Famiglia
by ENline
Summary: The no-good father who led a double-life, keeping the mafia at bay in a country 10,000 kilometers from home. The supportive mother whose loving smile hid secrets of her own. The bullied son who did his best to keep his family from worrying. The eldest, an insomniac tangled up in the unforgiving world of crime and Yakuza. At the end of the day, the Sawadas were your typical family.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Six streets east of Namimori Middle, four blocks down. The rather unexceptional house on the right sat deceivingly humble. For the family it housed was something just a tad above exceptional.

If one were to open the gate, cross the carefully nurtured lawn and pass through worn doorway, they would find a family of four gathered around the table over a lovingly home-cooked meal. The father, the mother, the eldest, and the youngest. Four was usually the number for a family. Like with most dinners, the conversation inevitably steered towards the subject of eachother's days.

The father went first.

"Well it was a good day, I caught up with a few old friends around the neighbourhood! Work called in as well, they said business was getting rowdy without me to traffic the construction sites!"

He finished with a laugh and a goofy grin like he always did.

The mother went next.

"That's nice dear, I can't say it was a very eventful day for me. There was a sale at the mall so I had a look... Oh! And a salesperson turned up at the door selling the strangest things. But nothing much other than that."

She smiled brightly and received smiles in return.

The eldest shrugged, cracking a joke about how insomnia was making school more insufferable than usual.

"We learned some more English today, I can introduce myself now. I went to the park for a bit after school."

She swung her legs under the table, grinning slightly.

The youngest blinked when he realised it was his turn.

"Daycare was okay. A bit scary. B-but it was only the first day!"

He gave a timid smile at their warm looks.

An ordinary enough conversation. Yet out of all four, none of them told the whole truth.

The father hid that catching up with old friends meant bodily threatening Vongola's messengers away, as their very presence put his family at risk of being murdered by enemy famiglia. He didn't say that the phone call was the Ninth himself, subtly urging him to return because he couldn't be long from his duties to the mafia.

The mother chose not reveal how she found what looked to be a gun holster among her husband's belongings. She didn't comment on how there seemed to be the smell of smoke lingering on her eldest or how her youngest's clothing seemed to have new holes and abrasions every day.

The eldest neglected to mention that her insomnia was making it hard for her to concentrate in school, often resulting in being scolded by the teacher. Nor did she mention that she would often bump into a tattooed man at the park, always under the same tree smoking a cigarette. The man would often come over and speak to her, and she would notice the faint metallic tang that would linger around him.

The youngest didn't bother elaborating on how his clumsiness at the daycare often led to the other children laughing at him and even tripping him on purpose. He had come home with bruises and scrapes that he dared not show.

Family time was precious, their little safe-haven away from troubles.

Six streets east of Nami Middle, four blocks down. The Sawada residence was home to four people that valued family above all. Not one led an ordinary life in the least.


	2. Chapter 1: Reminiscence I

**EDITED: 25/06/17 cleaning up, minor plot changes/ adjustments**

 **Chapter 1**

There was something in every man that envied a family, he thought.

There was something in every man that also feared its fragility.

* * *

 _Remember that time Dad's Boss came to_ _visit?_

Siblings.

Timoteo immediately found himself sobering from his previous excitement at visiting his external adviser's homeland when not one, but two little faces peeked out at him from behind Iemitsu's legs. One older by few years, but nonetheless the term was a plural. His mind raced with possibilities of what could potentially happen if it came down to the two children as heirs to the Vongola throne. One could be given the title of Vongola Decimo and the other would most likely benefit the family by becoming the next CEDEF leader. The possibility of the one's dissatisfaction leading to a feud was not ruled out.

Dark brown eyes flickered up to meet the lighter ones of Iemitsu's. And Timoteo knew that the man had caught onto to his solemn thoughts.

A flash of steel passed through the Young Lion's eyes. An unspoken threat.

In any other circumstance he would have taken it as treachery, but this was a matter of family. Fathers were protective by nature; he'd experienced such with his own sons. So Timoteo merely offered a small consolation in the form of a rueful smile. Iemitsu gave an almost imperceptible nod before introducing his wife.

"What an adorable girl," He complimented, and as a sly bit of revenge at Iemitsu's threat, he added. "You're wasted on Iemitsu."

Nana laughed abashedly, shaking her head while Iemitsu spluttered indignantly, eliciting a knowing smile from his Boss. He had caught the warning.

"We're perfect for each other!" he protested hotly.

He calmed quick enough however, in favour of introducing the two behind his wife. His eyes spoke volumes of the pride he harboured for his family.

"These are my children, Tsunayoshi and Akira. Five and ten respectively"

This time Timoteo looked at the siblings with undisguised interest.

The younger, Tsunayoshi could've been mistaken as a carbon copy of his mother. The doe-like chocolate brown eyes, the soft chestnut locks and the gentle planes of his face were all courtesy of the woman he was hiding behind. But the tell-tale way his hair tumbled everywhere was all Iemitsu's. He had a rather timid character, evident in the way peered out at Timoteo cautiously.

The older, the daughter, had her father's eyes and his strong jaw line. Something the man must have been proud of for sure. Her hair the colour of her mother's, cropped boyishly short and equally messy as her father, Akira clutched her younger's brother's hand in hers, as if offering each other comfort in the presence of a stranger. She too was quiet, but it wasn't the same timidness as her brother.

"Tsu-kun, Ki-chan, say hello!" Nana prompted gently.

When they didn't, Iemitsu blinked at the two, confused by their silence. Akira looked at her father for some sort of reassurance, and she received it in a form of a grin and an encouraging nod.

And gaining the needed confidence, she puffed out her chest looked back up at Timoteo and determinedly offered a jerky smile to cover up the awkwardness her tawny eyes belayed.

"Hello." she said, bowing stiffly but deeply as if to make up for her earlier hesitation.

"Hello to you too, Akira-chan." Timoteo returned the smile with a curve of his own lips.

He chuckled when the girl visibly relaxed and rubbed the back of her neck in an action that was strongly reminiscent of her father.

Tsunayoshi still looked uncertain but an encouraging nudge from his older sister had him peeking around and shyly dipping into a quick bow, with a soft, innocent smile that was surely his mother's.

"Hi." Tsuna all but whispered. The mafia don crouched before of the boy.

"Nice to meet you, Tsunayoshi-kun." he replied with a sincere smile that caused his eyes to crinkle.

At this, the boy opened up and allowed a small giggle to pass his lips. Iemitsu beamed at his son and daughter, practically swelling with pride and love for his family.

Emotions which were by no means lost on Timoteo, and it pained him to know that these two innocent children, barely a few steps into their lives were already living with one foot in the unforgiving world of the underground.

* * *

The chopsticks fell with a clatter from Iemitsu's fingers the moment he laid eyes on his eldest.

"Akira? What- what the hell happened to you?!" he was on the ten-year-old at once, hands gripping her shoulders and taking in every inch of her with wide eyes.

Scrapes, cuts, and bruises. Dishevelled clothes, dirt streaked hair and a trickle of blood flowing steadily from her nose. Akira failed to hide a wince of pain when her father shook her.

Iemitsu's eyes sharpened. A frigidness at odds with the sudden fire in his veins. The roaring in his ears urged him to flay the soul who'd dared to do this to her.

He looked to his youngest. Needing, demanding an answer, an outlet for his rage.

"What happened to your sister Tsuna?"

 _Who did this to her?_

"Sh-she-" the boy started to explain with wide, tearful eyes.

The sight made Iemitsu growl under his breath. _His_ daughter. _His_ son. He should have never let them go out on their own. Akira's voice snapped him out of his steadily spiralling thoughts.

"It's nothing Dad, there were just some stupid people picking on Tsuna. But they ran off when they saw me." Akira bravely attempted to grin at the blonde, "Right Tsuna?"

Iemitsu saw through the facade immediately, the worry and surprise on his youngest's face told him more than enough. Why was she lying? Why wouldn't she tell her who was responsible? He would have been more than eager to teach the bastards a lesson. Yet when he looked into those tawny eyes, so much a mirror of his own, he saw the panic reflected clearly. She didn't want him to know.

Why?

 _Because she knows you'd get like this._

The blonde exhaled, forcing the thundering of his blood down to a simmer. Calming himself with deep breaths. At these times he loathed the Vongola blood that ran through his veins, and the faultless, logical hyper-intuition that came with it. He hated how the single voice of reason could so easily quell his anger. This was his daughter. His son. It should not be so trivial.

"Is this true Tsuna?" Iemitsu inquired, plastering a curious expression as he looked at his son. He decided to play along. The younger brunet glanced over to his sister again as if contemplating something before answering. By this time, Timoteo had arrived on the scene and was observing the situation silently.

"Uh, y-yeah." was the hesitant reply.

Lie. Iemitsu inwardly shook his head at how in tune his children could be with each other's emotions. A trait they had most likely picked up from his dear Nana. He himself, had always been one to act on his own instinct and judgement.

"And so, if they all ran when you came, how come you're all beat up?"

Akira flinched.

"I uh- I fell as I was chasing them!"

Iemitsu exhaled, keeping a firm reign on his anger and picked up his daughter's hands, turning them over to reveal her scuffed and bleeding knuckles.

"And what about these?" he asked calmly, "Did you punch the ground for tripping you?"

She averted her gaze, expression guilty.

"Well?" he prompted.

Akira pressed her lips together before relenting.

"... Okay, maybe they didn't run."

"So you got into a fight with them. Instead of running for help."

 _"I couldn't just run!"_ she burst out hotly, scowling up at him in frustration. "They were insulting Tsuna! I had to beat them! An insult to one is an insult to the whole family!"

"An insult-" Iemitsu repeated, brows furrowing. That sounded awfully like mafia. "Where'd you get that from?"

She opened her mouth to reply before abruptly closing it and shifting uncomfortably.

"No-one..."

He narrowed his eyes at her.

Her jaw was set and Iemitsu knew that he wouldn't get any other explanation besides the one already given. So he reluctantly let up, patting his eldest on the head and standing to usher the two into the living room to treat Akira's injuries.

He passed his Boss, and the man's sudden fixation on his daughter did not escape his notice.

* * *

"An insult to one is an insult to the whole family, huh?" Timoteo mused. "That's an interesting way of thinking for a child."

He looked across the table to gauge Iemitsu's reaction. The man was sitting with head bowed in thought over clasped hands. Nana had gone to tuck the little ones to sleep, leaving the two men to speak freely over the dining table.

"She's been picking up these things lately. I don't know where from." he said shortly.

"Akira-chan possesses strength." Timoteo commented off-handedly after moment of sitting in silence. "She has strong heart."

"Yes, well as you can see from today, sometimes that heart of hers gets her into more trouble than she can handle."

"Well," the older man leaned back in his chair, "You can choose to see it that way, or you can see today's events as a valuable lesson for your children.

"My son was _bullied_ and my daughter _beaten_." Iemitsu snapped, tone icy and jaw clenched. "That's not something I would wish upon my children even as a _lesson_. I'd rather not subject them to the crueller aspects of this world while they're this young, and if that means dealing with the sources myself..."

He trailed off darkly, fingers digging grooves into the varnished tabletop in an effort to keep form tearing out the door and exacting bloody vengeance.

"Iemitsu." the Ninth's sharp reprimand brought him back to reality. "Try not to dwell on the negatives so much, going out there and traumatising those children will do no good."

"And pray do tell, what positives could I _possibly_ instead focus on?" he all but forced out through gritted teeth. Timoteo's eyes narrowed in disapproval of his tone but in his state of mind, he barely registered it.

"Your eldest shows a fierce devotion to her brother, she understands very well the importance of family. A trait rather commendable for a child her age."

Iemitsu fell silent as he contemplated his words. Akira had always secretly adored Tsuna from the moment that she had laid eyes upon him. The day he was born she'd been instantly enamoured with him. But it was a fact that she usually hid behind the pride of an older sibling and the occasional benign shoving around. Even so she was always terribly in tune with him, to the point that she practically had a sixth sense for when he was in trouble. But with the particular way Timoteo had phrased the innocent statement, his mind immediately jumped to one particular conclusion.

"You mean to say, a commendable trait in a _famiglia_. Are you planning to make her _heir_ Ninth?"

His voice was deceptively soft but the underlying threat was as clear as day to Timoteo. These were delicate grounds he was stepping on and he knew he would have to choose his words carefully.

"No, to be a Vongola candidate, some form of control of flames is needed, so far little Akira has not demonstrated any form of Dying Will Flames."

"But my son, Tsuna, has, _is that what you're trying to say?!_ " Iemitsu demanded.

And when his boss merely stared evenly back at him, he slammed his fist on the table, choking back the snarl of frustration that threatened to escape him.

He wished his children to be free from the criminal underground and away from his world of bloodshed, yet now it seemed they were anything but. One's path already led to Vongola's throne, and the other would most likely be forced into the life by association. All his efforts over the years, holding himself back from returning to Japan, just to throw off any trail that could potentially be tracked. To keep them safe. And it was all to be come undone at the casual whim of the man sitting before him. _His children-_

"It's merely a possibility-"

Iemitsu growled. Raw and possessive.

" _My_ daughter."

"I understand-"

" _My. Son._ "

"Iemitsu you must see-"

"You have your sons! Your heirs! What could you _possibly_ want from my family, Ninth?" he snarled venomously, "They will _not_ be a part of your games, and certainly not your _failsafe_."

There was a silence, but by no means a lull. Not when the man before him had every fibre of his being wired tight with ire.

Timoteo exhaled wearily.

"I wish only for them to live their lives Iemitsu, you know that. As a family."

Iemitsu's eyes flashed and never had he held more resentment towards the double life he lead, to the man he had sworn loyalty to and called _father_ so readily before, than he had now.

A family, _but which one?_

 **EDITED: 25/06/17 cleaning up, minor plot changes/ adjustments**


	3. Chapter 2: Reminiscence II

**EDITED: 25/06/17 clean up, perspective change, minor plot adjustments, fine-tuning.**

 **Chapter 2**

If one were to ask Tsuna what having an older sibling was like, he supposed would have to describe it as 'a gentle tyranny'. If further questioned on this strange paradox, he could only explain with the aid of a personal anecdote.

* * *

 _Remember that time I developed an irrational fear of vegetable peelers and the like?_

"I'm home."

"Tsu-kun?" his mother's voice immediately sounded in response, tinged with confusion, "Why are you back so early? What happened to school?"

Tsuna shrugged, a noncommittal roll of his shoulders, and kept his eyes firmly on the task of untying his shoelaces so as not to meet her gaze. Nonetheless he felt her worried hovering in the hallway and he felt the familiar stab of guilt in his chest.

Look at him, causing unnecessary trouble for others again.

But his sides and arms were still aching and he really couldn't bring himself to talk. So it was with his head firmly bowed that he trudged past his mother and up the stairs to his room. At his door, he paused, gaze roving listlessly over the wooden fish plaque that hung upon it.

Used to hang upon it, he corrected himself. His sister had taken it upon herself to super-glue it on once she'd caught wind that he'd deemed himself too old for his childish nickname and had intended to take it down.

"Guess you were right." he muttered at the sign.

He was still a little cry-baby.

Once behind the seclusion of his closed door, he collapsed into a heap onto his bed and pressed his knuckles against his stinging eyes. He sniffled. Once. Because crying was for when one was frustrated. And he was just tired.

It was a bad day at school again and he needed some time away from the world.

But the thing about older siblings is, they never seem to get the memo about things like privacy and personal space.

"Brother dearest!"

Barely fifteen minutes into his moping the door to his room was abruptly kicked open and his sister's purposefully obnoxious cheer came floating through.

Tsuna groaned, wriggling miserably in his protective cocoon of blankets. He caught the sound of her settling into his chair and knew she wouldn't be leaving him alone anytime soon.

"Holed up in your little lair again?"

Against his better judgement, he poked his head out of the covers to eye his sister warily. And there sat Akira, leisurely slouched over the back of the chair grinning at him from beneath familiar, sleep-deprived eyes.

"Akira-nee..." he reluctantly acknowledged, "What are you doing in my room?"

"What are you doing out of school?" she matched with a shrug of her shoulders.

He slumped, resigning himself to crawl completely out of the blankets to face the inevitable round of interrogation.

"Mum told you."

"More or less." she said, scratching at her cheek, "Well... I won't nag, I just want to know if something was up."

Tsuna scratched his head, staring fixedly at a point just above his sister's head. He pressed his lips into a line, toying with the idea of just spilling everything.

"...it's nothing." he finally decided to say, "I wasn't feeling that well. Just had a bad day that's all."

"You've been having an awful lot of bad days lately."

Tsuna twitched and fiddled glumly with the corner of his blanket. Akira watched him quietly for a bit, and when he didn't cave in to her insistent staring, she decided that this tender footing around was doing neither of them any favours.

"So, what happened to your arm?"

He visibly flinched this time and quickly tried to shove his bruised arm back beneath the covers once more. His eyes darted nervously around his room, everywhere but her searching gaze.

"I fell." he stammered out.

"Falling doesn't give you bruises like that." she dismissed it easily.

"I ran into Hibari-san."

"Unlikely, you weren't late and he doesn't beat people up for no reason."

"I got hit by a baseball then!" he threw his hands up in a mixture of exasperation and embarrassment at his string of failed lies. "All over the body! It was the pitching machine!"

That had Akira snorting, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards in amusement.

"You really suck at this lying thing." she noted, "I know you don't want us to worry but... it kind of does the opposite."

Tsuna pursed his lips, cheeks tinged red.

"Well add that to the list of what I suck at!" he snapped bitterly, flopping back against the mattress as he let the creeping defeat of his mind overwhelm him.

He sensed something in the air of his room shift then. They had fallen into a silence and there was something about it that he could almost call foreboding. Like the calm before a storm.

Akira started drumming her fingers against the back of his chair.

"Who was it?" she asked, the question casual yet not.

Tsuna was once again torn.

"Does it matter?" he countered, eyes narrowing at the ceiling. "I mean all my classmates and those seniors are right aren't they? I am No-Good. I suck, I can't do anything right, I'm worthless!"

The drumming of her fingers increased. Her head was bowed so he couldn't see her face.

He turned his back to her and muttered dourly to the wall.

"Even you and Mum think that."

Something clattered violently against the floor and Tsuna flinched. His chair, he realised.

He dared not look over, but her ire was palpable. Something that prickled at the back of his head. But even as he heard her storm out of his room, and felt the slamming of the front door reverberate through the house, he could do nothing but lie like a coward beneath the covers. Too afraid to face the possibility that his own sister probably hated him now too.

* * *

Tsuna didn't go to school the next day.

As a result, he was home lounging miserably at the living room table when Akira returned. Her arrival, in the form of a moody slam of the front door, a scowl accentuated by sleep-deprivation, and her lucky, metal baseball bat slung ominously over her shoulder.

The cracker Tsuna had been absently chewing on hung limply from his mouth. His sister wasn't in uniform, was the single dumb thought that came to mind, his sister had obviously not been in school this morning.

Their eyes met and Tsuna felt the urge to cower, their altercation yesterday was still weighing heavy on his mind, as was the guilt. He jumped when she dropped her bat to rest it against the floor. Then there was a pause in action, and Tsuna could feel his sister's stare on him.

But the silence was stifling and he hadn't the courage to break it.

So Akira did.

"They won't be bothering you again."

Tsuna's head shot up in surprise, eyes searching with the beginnings of a question on his lips, but he found only the sight of his sister's back retreating up the stairs with a curious limp to her gait. That left him alone to wrap his head around that baffling yet hopeful statement. He turned to the only object in the room that could possibly confirm his suspicions and blanched.

The bat; which Akira had dubbed her lucky baseball bat and taken it home after a miraculous, unintentional homerun in her third year at Nami-Middle P.E. class, was scuffed. Tsuna knew the marks were fresh because the bat had only ever been used to hit a ball once. And noticing the striking end of the bat, he dearly hoped those reddish-brown smudges weren't what he thought they were.

But it was clear that Akira had gotten into some sort of fight, and it had been with his best interests in mind.

Tsuna swallowed thickly, but the guilt was there, the hard lump in his throat that remained.

He quickly resolved himself to go to school tomorrow to confirm it, and if she really had dealt with it all, he would apologise and thank her. Despite how intimidating the idea sounded. The apologising and thanking part. His classmates' jeers he could handle but apologising and gratitude between siblings was an entirely awkward and stiff affair. Or smug and unpleasant, depending on the situation.

The next day, Tsuna had to backtrack at the sight of the Hibari Kyouya standing with arms folded at the door of his classroom.

The displeased aura that hung around the raven haired prefect was enough to make every student cower. He immediately ducked his head upon walking past the other, afraid to meet steely gaze. What was the teen doing outside his classroom anyway? At this time of day, Hibari was usually patrolling or residing in the Disciplinary Committee room.

But the out of the ordinary hadn't even begun with the prefect's presence, during his brief walk through Nami-Middle's court yard he had attracted the considering stares of several and the whispers that followed. It was enough to set anyone on edge, never-mind a bully victim.

The brunette apprehensively lingered in his spot, wary of the menacing looks the prefect was shooting each student as they went to enter the classroom. He shook his head quickly, knowing that if he waited any longer, Hibari would most likely find it enough reason to beat him up. So he took a deep breath and made his way towards his classroom, overly aware of the prefect's intense glare that followed him as he passed.

Was it his imagination or did disciplinary head seem to grow more irritated at the sight of him? He shivered as he finally reached the safety of his desk and away from his unsettling stare.

Needless to say, with the prefect's presence immediately at the classroom door, class was much more subdued. There was an oppressive silence that hung over the class, even the teacher seemed to be sweating profusely. For Tsuna, the prefect's presence meant that usual tormentors were too scared to throw mocking whispers in his direction. He found himself relaxing in his seat for once, knowing that he wouldn't have to suffer any pranks or schemes they came up with for today.

He couldn't help but snicker quietly to himself at the sight of Osamu trying to hide himself behind his book in an effort to not draw attention to himself.

The prefect however, somehow managed to catch his lapse in concentration and immediately shot a glare that had him cowering in his seat once more. If he wasn't annoyed with him before, the prefect certainly was now. With his attention drifting from the teacher's harried lecturing, his thoughts inevitably fell on the subject of Akira's recent distance towards him. He found himself once again with a heavy weight in his stomach, knowing that she was still mad at him.

Lunchtime came and went, and Tsuna was pleasantly surprised at how he had yet to come across his first bruise. His tormentors hadn't approached him at all, in fact he hadn't caught a glimpse of them at all. Although he had been seeing a certain raven haired prefect lurking around the school halls more than usual.

 _"Fuck man, yesterday was absolutely dogshit."_

Tsuna froze, he knew that voice. He pressed himself against the building's walls just as a familiar trio of his third-year tormentors rounded the corner. He knew the world wouldn't let his school-day end so smoothly.

So the moment he felt their attention shift from their boisterous conversation to his hunched form he resigned himself to another day of aches and bruises. But curiously, even as he willingly stood there shaking in his shoes but with his jaw firmly set, the expected jeered greetings and shoving didn't come.

Taken by such surprise, he found himself peeking up at the third-years. And promptly flinched when he found them eyeing him with… wariness?

Tsuna tentatively peered over his shoulder to check if a certain prefect standing in the window of the building behind him was putting a damper on their usual eagerness to harass him. But there was only the smooth brick of a wall, not even a window in sight.

One of the third-years with the shaved head nudged the one with the liberally gelled hair.

"Hey, Nobu." he then looked meaningfully, yet unsurely at Tsuna.

Nobu who was the one usually initiated the bullying, seemed to snap out of some kind of stupor and knocked their elbow away with a scowl. He then glowered down at Tsuna who reflexively shrunk into himself.

Here it was. Beating incoming.

"Fuck it- let's go, he's not worth having that crazy chick come after us again!"

They left in a flurry of grumbled commotion and flustered shoving, in a curious haste to distance themselves from an utterly bewildered Tsuna. He was left to stare blankly after them with arms still half-raised before him in a pathetic attempt to protect himself.

He let his hands drop back down to his sides and looked around him in confusion. The onlooking students in the schoolyard gazed back at him with equally surprised stares. Dame-Tsuna had miraculously gotten away bruise-free from Nobu of all people.

The whispers were starting again and this time Tsuna was curious enough to actually listen to them.

"I guess even Nobu won't take his chances after yesterday-"

"- his sister's threats were pretty clear-"

"- I was more focused on the bat she was swinging around."

"- called all those seniors out and lined them all up, like some firing squad scene-"

"How is Dame-Tsuna even related to someone like that?"

"I heard that she knocked a third-year out cold-!"

Tsuna winced at the last one. He quickly ducked his head and closed himself off to their whispers and stares once more. And he wondered just what exactly his sister had done in the one day he'd been away from school, because his peers were looking at him as if he were the brother of a ruthless convict.

 _They won't be bothering you anymore._

He stilled. He recalled the way his sister had limped home last afternoon.

Somehow, Akira had found a way to get rid of his bullies, however controversial the methods were. And it might as well have been at her own expense. All for a brother who couldn't even show his family a bit of gratitude.

Tsuna balled his hands into fists and lifted his chin determinedly.

It was decided. After school he would find his sister and properly apologise.

And perhaps ask about the exact events of yesterday morning at Namimori Middle School he's been hearing about all day.

Akira shot up from behind the counter, face screwed up in agony as she hopped around clutching at her left foot.

It was quite the comical sight for the shop's remaining patrons.

She'd stubbed her toe right where it was still tender, and it hurt to high heaven.

She'd barely caught her tongue in time to stop her choice profanities from scarring the child at table two for life. And it was only through sheer determination that she pushed through the pain to serve the day's last order of miso ramen to the kindly father at the counter, albeit with a severely hobbling gait.

"Sawada!" her manager's gruff voice came floating to her ears, "That's about the end of your shift. You can clock out now. Take out the trash on your way out will you?"

"Yes, Boss!" she called dutifully back, bowing in his direction, "Thanks for your hard work!"

Mindfully keeping her weight gingerly off her wounded foot, she rolled the bin out into the back-alley. The crisp evening breeze was an instant relief from the muggy, steam-saturated air of the shop's kitchen.

She wiped the sweat from her brow and cracked out the built-up pockets of tension from her joints, groaning as she did so. Stooping over a stove and counter all afternoon was tough on the back and neck, that was for sure.

The familiar smell of cigarette smoke had her turning to the mouth of the alley where two high schoolers were lighting up and snickering at some joke shared between them. An ordinary sight to find in Namimori's back-alleys, but the shaved head and gelled hair they were sporting was enough similarity to have her subconsciously glaring.

It only took a second for them to notice, to which they stared unsurely back and when she only continued low-key glowering, even went as far as to snuff out their cigs and skulk away with a couple of nervous glances back at her.

But because her foot was still smarting she couldn't bring herself to feel the remorse nor surprise that should have come with scaring away two teenagers with her displeasure alone.

She lined the bin neatly against the wall and limped her way back into the ramen shop, fully intending to collect her things and return home for the day. The moment she set foot back in the establishment however, the change in atmosphere was apparent. There was a palpable, subdued tension in the air that had her pausing and scanning the restaurant's interior.

The source of it, their newest customer, the man lounging at the counter table.

Something about him, the way he held himself, the sharpness to how he dressed, and the way the black fabric slanted over the right side of his face suggested a missing eye, was enough to make the mother at table two discreetly angle her body to shield her child from his considering gaze.

The man at the centre of all this tension shifted nonchalantly, pushing up the sleeves of his dress shirt. The hush over the restaurant grew deafening. The Nara-black* designs inked into the skin of his forearm was a tell-tale warning. Irezumi**.

Yakuza.

Akira set her jaw, ignoring her Boss' cautioning shake of the head and stalked right up to the man. That red hair, that perpetual smug grin was an entirely unpleasant sight she wished she didn't recognise.

The man looked up at her approach and his look of mild curiosity immediately turned to one of sadistic glee.

"Akira-"

"- Good evening customer!" she was quick to cut him off, her 'service smile' on full blast, albeit it was more gritted teeth than anything, "What's that? You were looking for the sushi shop? Why you're mistaken, that's down the one down road, here let me _show you out._ "

And to the shock of all the restaurant's patrons, she took the criminal syndicate member by the collar and bodily dragged him out the back door and into the alley.

Akira swore she heard the child at table two cheer as she did.

"Alone in the alleyway with a criminal," the man slipped out of her grip with ease and grinned down at her, "That shit's not shifty at all."

" _Shut up_." she glowered at him, ripping the apron from around her waist and agitatedly shoving it in her bag, "What the fuck did you think you were doing, Red, parading around like that where I fucking work."

Red, or more formally Tachibana Seiji, raised his hands in a placating gesture, one that was effectively rendered moot by the shit-eating grin on his face.

"Sorry, won't do it again." he said insincerely.

"So, what did you want from me?" Akira crossed her arms dourly, "You know I'm done with the yakuza."

"I'm not here on behalf of the Momokyokai, just a friendly visit." Seiji said, "But it's funny you should say that because I've heard that you've actually been embracing your delinquent tendencies lately."

She pursed her lips, staring back at him evenly.

"I had justice on my side."

"Well shit, if you call beating up middle-schoolers with a baseball bat justice, I'd hate to see your version of vengeance."

"I didn't beat them up." she frowned, "I just… terrorised them a little bit- how do you know about all this anyway?"

"I caught you asking our dear adviser Natsumi for information. Surveillance feed of Nami-Middle?" he grinned knowingly at her, "With the way you were trained on those third-years, I would have thought they were your targets for a hit. That's pretty 'yakuza'."

The comment warranted a look of utter disgust from the brunette. Seiji cackled.

"There was nothing 'yakuza' about the way I handled things." Akira sniffed, clenching a fist before her in the image of self-righteousness, "I vanquished the evil without the slightest need for violence like the hero I am."

"Oh," the red-head indulged, "so the peaceful and heroic approach is why you've been limping around ever since you left the school-yard?"

Akira froze, expression disgruntled. He looked at her expectantly.

"… I kicked a wall…" she grumbled under her breath.

"What was that?"

"I intentionally lashed out in a fit of rage when they wouldn't confess to their crimes, alright?" she shoved her hands deep in her pockets in a display of embarrassed agitation, "It didn't go as planned."

The man snorted, then positively howled with laughter.

"You broke your toe against the wall?!" he wheezed through the laughter that wracked his sides, "T-to intimidate them?! HAHAHA!"

This of course, rubbed her the wrong way and she kicked out with her uninjured foot which he dodged with infuriating ease.

"Shut up! I was angry, alright?!" she snapped, "Those dickwads were bullying my little brother- _my little brother._ "

"So you kicked a wall to get back at them, that's some clever shit. They must've shit their pants."

"They did when I bashed the shit out of that wall with my bat. They were all over themselves apologising and swearing to never touch my brother again. Thought I was bat-shit crazy." Akira snorted at her unintentional pun, then frowned, "It was all going well until a certain prefect decided to 'discipline' me for destruction of school property. But I called in a few favours, smoothed it over- I even managed to get him to agree to keep an eye out for my brother until he stops his… _moping._ "

"Shit, you willingly put yourself in that scary demon prefect's debt?" he narrowed his eyes inquisitively, "You must really love your brother."

Akira snorted, shrugging her bag up her shoulder.

"At least someone sees that."

* * *

For the first time in weeks, Tsuna arrived home with his chin held high (for him anyway) and mouth set in a determined line.

The moment he stepped past the threshold he had his eyes peeled. No sign of Akira in the yard, she wasn't in the hallway. That left upstairs, the dining room or the living room. He inhaled deeply to calm his nerves at the prospect of having to confront his sister.

Akira rarely ever got truly mad at him. Annoyed or extremely irritated yes, that was how siblings worked, but never really mad. But the few times she did, she had a habit of distancing herself from him until he mustered up the courage to talk to her.

"I'm home." he finally called out after a good moment of stalling.

He noted that his mother's answering call came from somewhere above, which meant if Akira was downstairs, he wouldn't have to worry about dragging his mother into their little spat if things weren't resolved.

Tsuna's current objectives: find Akira, resolve their spat, don't involve his mother.

Tsuna stealthily slipped his shoes off and stole into the hallway on high alert. He poked his head into the dining room, eyes shifty and his heart leapt to his throat.

There at the kitchen counter was Akira.

He whipped himself back around and pressed himself against the wall, barely managing to clap a hand over his mouth in time to stop the surprised yelp from escaping. He'd found Akira much too fast. His frail heart wasn't prepared damn it.

Fortunately, her sister hadn't spotted him. She had her back turned, working away at something he couldn't see. Tsuna used the time to psyche himself up.

"C'mon, Dame-Tsuna, it's just your ol' sister." he hissed to himself under his breath, "Nothing to be afraid of."

He took two, shaky, deep breaths, wiped his palms on the front of his shirt. Once. Twice. Then he traced character for 'person' on his hand and swallowed it.

"Nothing to be afraid of." he reassured himself again.

Then he purposefully strode into the room, stiff-legged and back ram-rod straight.

Then he stood there, and felt stupider each second that passed in tentative silence. He squared his shoulder and cleared his throat. He would do this.

"A-Akira-nee?" but of course, his voice ended up betraying exactly how nervous he actually was.

Akira twitched. He tensed.

The forceful clack of something being set onto the kitchen counter made him jump.

A whetting stone.

Against his better judgement, he looked down at what she held in her hand. A freshly sharpened kitchen knife.

"What do you want?"

At the rather unsettling blank look she shot him, Tsuna felt whatever determination he had worked up shrivel and die.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-n-nothing!" he stammered out, dropping into ninety-degree bow in his terror and all but fleeing from the kitchen.

Once out of the perceived danger zone and in the safety of his bedroom, he chewed himself out for his cowardice. It was just his sister, there was nothing to be scared of.

Except the very scary knife she was sharpening.

He shook his head furiously. He would try again tomorrow morning; he would even wake up early if he had to.

* * *

The next morning the flames were six feet high.

Cooking breakfast should not warrant the unhealthy amount of fire billowing from the pan as Akira 'fried' up some eggs.

"What?"

"Hiee! Nothing!"

He bolted out the door on an empty stomach.

Self-preservation was a very strong reflex.

* * *

No matter how much of his beaten self-esteem he gained back with Hibari-san's continued, curious presence outside the classroom, after school wasn't much better.

"Akira-"

Was that a spiked hammer she was beating the meat with?

Nope.

"Nothing!"

* * *

Next day she was peeling the vegetables a bit too aggressively for his liking.

Yes, at this moment in time, in his frayed state of mind, even a vegetable peeler was terrifying. In fact, his fear of Akira wielding simple kitchen utensils continued through the week and to the weekend.

He had procrastinated for four whole days, in which his sister's cold shoulder had nagged at him to no end. If he didn't talk things out today, then he couldn't call himself a man. He clenched a fist in determination.

In his bout of inspiration, he found himself standing before Akira's door at the ungodly hour of six in the morning.

"Idiot!" he snapped at himself. "Who would be awake this early on a weekend? Now she's going to be even more mad at me."

He fretted about for a few seconds, before coming to a stop. Tsuna stared apprehensively at the door. Now came the important decision of whether or not he should knock.

He started pacing in thought.

If Akira was asleep then knocking would most likely wake, but if she wasn't, creeping into her room might not be the best of ideas either. He pulled at his hair, agonising over his options. So caught up in his predicament, he didn't notice the door swing open until it was too late.

The next thing he knew he was meeting eyes of a highly exasperated Akira.

"I could hear your stupid fretting through the door." she said.

"O-oh…"

Tsuna noted the dark circles under her eyes and her overall air of a dead man walking. It seemed both of them had been losing sleep lately. Her insomnia was no secret; it came in sporadic episodes that more than often worried them with how long they lasted.

She motioned with her head for him to follow her downstairs and Tsuna scurried after her.

"So what do you want?" her voice, tinged with the beginnings of annoyance pulled him from his thoughts.

They were in the kitchen, and Akira was leaning against the counter looking at him expectantly.

Somehow it always came down to the kitchen. He eyed the drawers in which he knew the more dangerous of utensils were kept. Akira frowned at the lack of a response and Tsuna hastened to reply before she lost what little patience she had with him.

"I-I just want to talk." he stammered, tentatively moving to take the vacant spot across from her. Now he was cornered against the fridge with no escape.

Akira started fiddling absently with the utensils on the drying rack.

And now his sister had something to possibly kill him with. The vegetable peeler.

We meet again.

"And what if I told you that I don't want to?" she crossed her arms pointedly.

And despite the tense situation, her petulant, border-line childish tone had a laugh threatening to escape him. But then he remembered the deadly-sharp blades of the peeler he'd seen her viciously end vegetables with. He sobered instantly.

"I would still want to talk." he said firmly, although the wringing of his hands probably detracted from his bravado.

"No." the reply was blunt and swift, "I mean, why would I take the time to talk to someone I _supposedly_ consider worthless?"

Tsuna flinched, hunching into himself.

"You hate me." he despaired.

"What-?" Akira blinked, incredulity throwing her carefully blank expression off kilter. Her brows knitted. "No I don't."

His head snapped up, eyes round with hope. Only to shriek and cower when Akira flung her hands out in annoyance, including the one with the peeler. His eyebrow had been that close to a clean shaving.

"I mean sure you can annoy the hell out of me sometimes, but hey that's vice versa, and hey, siblings right? No- what I hate is how goddamn caring you are of other people's opinions." She jabbed a finger in his direction in emphasis, "And I hate how that in turn that makes you believe all the shit those classmates of yours say."

"Aki-"

"I mean what's with that anyway?" but Akira was on a roll, it seemed she had been bottling up this rant for a while, "Where the hell did you pick up the bright idea to be so considerate to people who call you 'worthless'? Certainly not me, I mean it's like you don't even remember all those lessons I gave you on how to perfectly nail someone in the jewels."

"Well, yes but-"

"I mean sure Mum's always taught us that violence's not the answer, but even she's admitted to knocking an asshole out with a textbook back in the days." The hand with the peeler flung out again, and once again Tsuna narrowly avoided it, "But you know what, I'm not even mad about all that. What I'm fucking pissed about is that _you didn't even try tell us that you were being bullied._ "

Akira stopped, breathing heavily. And without his sister's irate ranting to fill it, the silence was suddenly deafening.

Tsuna opened his mouth, tried to find something to say in reply to her, and closed it.

"It's just- we're your family, Tsuna, you're supposed to tell us these things. I mean… _argh!_ "

He watched as his sister suddenly broke off, shaking her head and viciously ruffling her hair in blatant frustration.

"God I hate these kinds of conversations. They make pep talks sound so easy in the movies. What the hell am I supposed to say-"

He shuffled his feet awkwardly as his sister gathered her thoughts.

"You're an idiot." she finally concluded with narrowed eyes. Tsuna's shoulders slumped.

"I'm an idiot." he agreed quickly, not daring to meet the unimpressed look that his sister was most certainly shooting his way.

"Your bad."

"My bad."

Tsuna peeked back up at Akira tentatively, cracking a small smile. The corner of her mouth tilted upwards ever so slightly, and he knew he was forgiven.

"And next time someone tries to shove you around you punch them, alright?" Akira said, expression completely serious.

"Uhh…" Tsuna teetered, he really wasn't one for violence.

"Or at least tell me and I'll punch them for you."

"Okay." He snickered, grinning up at her, "Sorry."

His sister rolled her eyes.

"Stop apologising, get over here and help me peel the potatoes. You can apologise properly for worrying us by helping with breakfast, you freeloader."

And so he did, although he visibly cringed at the sight of the peeler being handed to him, much to his sister's confusion. He had to force himself to take that lethal utensil into his hands.

But to his surprise, despite his fear of the peeler, he turned out to be quite the competent vegetable skinner. Not one bit of potato was wasted that morning.

"Add that to your damn list." Akira chortled, "Professional potato peeler. Hell, maybe I'll hire you as assistant chef once I manage to open my own restaurant."

Tsuna only grinned to himself.

If one were to ask Tsuna what having an older sibling was like, he supposed this was summing it perfectly. Irritating and bossy most of the time, awkward when expressing affection, but kind of touching when it came down to it.

"That way I can order you around without Mum getting on my case for it."

Until they ruined it with comments like that.

 **A/N This one's for my 3 Reviewers, 6 Followers and 8 Favouriters. You know I was only writing this for my own amusement right? But now you've all gone and turned on the pressure. Don't worry, secretly I appreciate it.**

 **To Guest 8O: That would be cool huh? But sadly Akira being the protective little thing she is, would be throwing herself left right and centre to keep him from even getting close to being affiliated with the criminal world. Even though you know, he's already a candidate for Mafia boss...**

 **EDITED: 25/06/17 clean up, perspective change, minor plot adjustments, fine-tuning.**

 ***NARA-BLACK: Ink used in traditional Japanese tattooing, famous for the way it turns from black to a dark blue-green under the skin.**

 **** IREZUMI: Traditional Japanese method of tattooing, a lengthy and painful process as it is done completely by hand. Tattoos are a sign of criminality in Japan, tied strongly to the Yakuza.**


	4. Chapter 3: Reminiscence III

**EDITED: 10/07/17 Clean up, fine tuning, no plot change**

 **Chapter 3**

Having a younger sibling might seem to mean a victim for your bright ideas, but it was really something akin to walking on eggshells. One had to be very delicate about their feelings…

Only when your parents are looking.

Any other time, a younger sibling really was just a victim of your bright ideas.

* * *

 _Remember when you decided I needed a self-esteem boost?_

It was one of her slow nights.

Not a wink of sleep since her head hit the pillow three hours ago and the flashing digits on her clock were ever the taunting reminder. By now, she wasn't too fussed, she had been due for an insomnia episode after a nice week of mostly uninterrupted sleep.

In fact, she was actually glad for the extra time she had on her hands. It gave her time to plot.

And with that thought, she ripped herself free of the covers and marched purposefully to her desk. On flicked the desk-lamp, and off came the pen lid. With purposeful strokes, she inked out on a scrap piece of paper the words: 'Operation: Cure My Bro's Severe Self-esteem Deficiency'

AKA Operation: CMBSSD

C-M-B-ss-ed?

Cmbussed?

 _Combust._

Operation: Combust.

Akira smirked proudly at her own sleep-deprived genius. Now that her plan had a cool, spy-worthy codename- might've had to pull it out of her ass, but hey it worked- it was time to put on the thinking cap.

Her brother may not have lapsed back into anymore of his depressed, sulking moods lately but he was far from happy and comfortable with himself. His self-esteem had been trampled, spat on, thrown out a window, _steam-rolled_ , and then trampled some more before finally being put through the wringer by his peers and teachers. Daily.

Basically he needed a major confidence boost before it hit negative infinity on the y-axis.

Akira leisurely spun around on her chair, contemplating exactly what could be done for her dear little brother. How does one go about making a pre-pubescent teenage boy feel good about himself?

She paused, struck by inspiration. Akira put pen to paper and scrawled down her genius with an all too diabolical grin.

She whipped out her phone, punching in number four on her speed dial, and waited.

Her senpai, as usual, did not disappoint.

 _"Akira dear, as much as I love you, this better be an emergency to be cutting into my beauty sleep."_

* * *

Akira traipsed into the house, having just returned from school and made a bee-line for the pantry fully intending to sate her stomach with a snack or five. She was always ravenous by the end of a school day.

So focused in her hunt for food, she only noticed the curious presence of her brother at the dining table when she had stopped liberally cramming rice crackers into her face and the kettle had gone off for her tea.

She blinked, pausing with cheeks stuffed with cracker pieces.

Her brother seemed to be completely immersed in reading something. Which was rare in itself. Usually he preferred video games to books and the like.

Washing down the remnants of the crackers with a sip of her tea, Akira craned her neck to try catch a glimpse of what had her brother so enraptured.

She caught sight of the pink envelope and a slow, knowing smile spread across her face.

"Is that a love letter brother dearest?" Akira inquired, hiding her grin behind the rim of her cup.

Tsuna's face abruptly flushed a bright red.

"A-Akira-nee!" he spluttered, scrambling in vain to try and stow away the letter in his hands- but she had seen everything, "When did you get here?!"

"Never knew you were such an eligible bachelor at school." she grinned wolfishly, waggling her eyebrows suggestively at him.

"I-it's not like that!" he stammered, flailing his arms in mortification.

Akira merely hummed in response. Oh this would be fun.

"Bet you have all the ladies chasing after you in school, eh?" she said, eyes shining with mirth. "I wouldn't be surprised if you had a little fan club. Drawing fan art, writing fan fiction..."

"I don't have a fan club!" he immediately denied, a strangled, choking noise escaping him at the very thought. "It's- it's just a letter!"

"A garishly pink, heart-decorated, perfumed _love_ _letter_." Akira was all but cackling now.

"Gah!"

Tsuna could only duck behind the letter in an attempt to hide his burning cheeks, only to let out a squeak of alarm when his rather flimsy shield was snatched out of his hands by the offender herself.

"H-hey!" he protested, making a swipe for the letter, but his sister- damn her superior height- moved it out of reach at the last second.

"Oh, come on Tsuna, let me have a look!" she said, and to his horror, began reading the letter aloud. "My dearest love! I have dreamed of confessing to you many a times in person. Yet being the shy and insecure person I am, I can only write to you in this letter."

"Akira!" Tsuna hissed, lunging at her from across the table in a futile attempt to retain what dignity he had left.

"The amount of times I have seen you pass in the corridor." Akira simpered, batting her eyelashes as she danced easy out of her brother's reach. "Your deliciously tousled bed hair makes me swoon inwardly."

"Stop-!"

But she had already escaped to the backyard, much to his dismay, where his mother was hanging up the washing.

"Your soulful, troubled gaze is something I have longed to have directed upon me." her mocking, breathy falsetto now shaking from the effort of containing her laughter. His mother, hearing Akira speak immediately perked up.

"Oh my, is this a love letter Tsu-kun?" she inquired innocently.

"NO!" he all but shrieked his denial.

"Yes!" Akira confirmed cheerfully, a shit-eating grin adorning her face.

Her whole expression seemed to light up as she skimmed over the next line. Tsuna paled. If he remembered correctly, it was that rather particular line.

"DON'T!" he leapt at his sister, desperation clear upon his face.

But his sister deftly stepped to the side, and he fell flat on his face, with a mouth full of their backyard for his efforts. To add insult to injury, it didn't stop her from reading.

"Your deep baritone has me weak in the knees every time, and I can only fantasize your voice whispering sensually in my ear. H-how my loins ache at the th-thought." he heard the crack in her voice before he saw the crack in her simpering facade.

Tsuna felt his last shred of dignity leave him when she collapsed beside him in hysterical laughter. He dared not look up at the sound of his mother's quiet giggling, choosing to keep his face firmly planted in the grass.

"My little Tsu-kun is growing up so fast! But oh my, are young people forward these days."

Yes, the earthy soil of the ground seemed rather appealing at the moment. Perhaps it was the fact that the lawn had been freshly mowed. Or perhaps it was the never-ending, howling peals of laughter next to his ear. He wasn't sure.

Finally, he had enough.

"W-whatever," he grumbled, snatching the letter back from his sister. "It was probably a mistake anyway. Like I have a baritone voice that makes people's loins..."

Tsuna trailed off, mouth snapping shut and face flushing red once more.

"I-I'll just put the letter back tomorrow!" he spluttered, dashing off into the safety of the house, doing his best to ignore the laughter-weak protests behind him.

The moment, Tsuna ran out of sight Akira cursed under her breath and berated herself inwardly. She righted herself and followed him inside.

Of course laughing at her brother would do wonders in raising his confidence levels. She had to applaud her own genius sometimes. Although, as her mind wandered back to the letter, she found herself involuntarily snickering again.

Did people really write letters like that?

With that thought in mind, she pulled out her cell phone and purposefully dialled the number of a certain amber-haired adviser and dear upperclassman.

 _"Akira dear!"_ the ever chipper and perky voice sounded through. _"Did you enjoy the love letter I wrote for you?"_

"Listen Natsumi. First of all, the love letter wasn't for me, it was for my brother."

 _"Details Akira, details."_

"Secondly, I enjoyed the love letter so much, I started laughing!" Akira groaned in frustration, "My brother took it the wrong way and instead giving his self-esteem a boost, I've probably kicked it down further."

Natsumi laughed, and in her current mood, it was far from the contagious sound it usually was.

"I have no idea what made you write that last line, but in any other situation it would have been pure gold." she huffed, collapsing into a chair and nursing her still tender sides from her laughing episode.

 _"Oh you mean the one about how your voice makes me weak at the knees? And my loins-"_

"Yes that one." Akira hastily cut her off, not liking how the other made it sound like she was dedicating the letter to her. "Baritone voice? Have you met my brother?"

 _"To be fair, I was at loss and consulted Sei for that one."_

"Why would you ever consult Red willingly? You're our adviser for Christ's sake, we're supposed to consult you."

 _"Well, like you said, I've never met your brother."_

Akira opened her mouth, then closed it, at a loss for words in the face of reason.

"He's never met my brother Natsumi."

 _"Oh."_

"Don't worry about it, it's my fault. Tell Red he's an idiot alright?"

 _"Sure! What for?"_

"For ever thinking that a thirteen-year old prepubescent boy would have a baritone voice." Then she hung up, already well into planning her next step of Operation: Combust.

* * *

It was another peculiar afternoon for Tsuna the next day.

After returning the love letter back on top of the lockers the moment the bell rang for the end of school, he had found another waiting in his locker. The same pink, perfumed envelope and everything. He had flushed at the sight of it, and knew better than to read it this time.

So he placed the letter on top of the one from yesterday with a hastily scribbled note, telling the admirer that they had the wrong locker. Then, after making sure no one had seen him, he made his way back home from another refreshingly bully-free school day

There was something liberating about being able to leisurely stroll down the footpath without the crippling ache of bruises forcing him to a limp.

It was on his usual route back home that he encountered something strange. He could have sworn he heard his sister's annoyed voice floating from the alleyway, and curiosity made him check.

"Akira-nee?"

And there, standing in the dingy alley, surrounded by five terrifying looking delinquents, was indeed his sister.

He felt the blood drain from his face.

Just what in the world has his sister gotten herself into?!

It was just his luck too that they turned to regard him at the sound of his voice. And one of them, the one with the bleach-white hair, had a scar running down his jaw that just screamed violent thug activity.

So consumed by mind-numbing terror- because was he supposed plead for mercy or grab his sister and run for it- Tsuna didn't catch Akira's increasingly agitated gesturing towards the delinquents surrounding her.

He did however, notice when one of the delinquents started laughing. And not in the sinister, villain archetype manner either.

"You're funny, Aneki*!"

Tsuna blinked. Aneki? Older sister? But he didn't have another sibling.

Hesitantly, he pushed back his panic to assess the situation again.

Yep, his sister was still surrounded by thug-like characters.

But the scene wasn't nearly as dire as he first thought. In fact, Akira now seemed to be conversing with them rather familiarly, albeit with an expression caught between severe irritation and resignation.

"Goddammit." he heard his sister mutter.

Akira glared weakly around at all of them.

Tsuna looked at them strangely when they all started grinning knowingly back at her. Some even nodded at him in greeting, much to his growing confusion.

"A-are these your friends, Akira-nee?" he inquired tentatively, voice still shaky from his earlier fright.

"Sure, Tsuna. They're my ' _friends'_." Akira said flatly, with another glare to the amused faces around her. "Why don't you wait for me on the street? I'll be right there."

"O-oh, alright then." he nodded, hesitating slightly before bowing politely towards the group of people and scampered out of the alley.

Akira glowered at the person nearest her, punching him none too lightly in the arm.

"Was it that hard for you guys to just beat me up?" she grumbled, "All you had to do was kick me around a bit and pretend to be intimidated by my brother when he showed up."

The white-haired male placed a hand over his heart with a mock look of affront.

"Like we could ever bring ourselves to hurt you li'l boss." he drawled, flashing a lazy smile at the calls of 'hear, hear!' behind him before adding, "Plus beating someone up takes too much effort. Effort that yakuza like us can leave to the little ones- you know, the common thugs."

"Whatever Koutarou, doesn't change the fact that you've all gone and wasted my genius." she huffed, ruffling her hair in annoyance. "Operation: Combust is a bust again."

"Operation what?"

"There's no time to explain." Akira said shortly, already stalking off towards the street to execute Plan C of the operation. "I'm on a mission here!"

"Good luck then, li'l boss." Koutarou called.

Akira stiffened in response, spinning on her heel and jabbing a finger at them with the expected, irate snap of:

"Don't call me that!"

She stared down the bemused group with her unimpressed glower, the warning clear in her eyes before disappearing around the corner after her brother.

Tsuna jumped slightly when he felt a hand come down on his shoulder.

He relaxed however, a second later at the sight of his sister half smiling and half grimacing at him.

"Sorry about that." she said, and Tsuna smiled back tentatively.

"What for?" he said, falling in line beside her as they started walking. He pursed his lips before adding as an afterthought. "I mean sure they kind of scared me a bit, your friends kind of looked like Yakuza-."

Akira twitched.

"-I mean, I actually thought you were going to get beat up or something."

Akira steps grew noticeably stiff-legged, and she looked at him with a jerky smile.

"Me? Get beat up? Pish." she managed a vaguely natural sounding laugh of derision. "I'm offended."

Inside, her self-proclaimed genius was still smarting at the reminder of her failed plan.

Tsuna snickered lightly.

"Please, your luck is just as bad as mine sometimes, Akira-nee. Even your lying, I mean a black-eye because you looked too far into the nozzle of a vacuum?"

His sister paused, opening her mouth to deny the claim but the thought about it, and closed it again in grudging acceptance.

"What can I say? It's hereditary." Akira exhaled dramatically, casually using his head as an armrest. "But sadly you've inherited most of it."

"Hey!" he immediately protested, swiping at her arm indignantly. "I'm not whoa-!"

An all-too loving clap on the back had him careening forwards and stumbling. Tsuna flailed wildly, barely managing to find his feet again before he kissed the pavement. He glared up at his sister in time to catch Akira grinning back at him over her shoulder.

"Come on, I have some loose change. Let's go to the arcade."

"Eh? Hey wait up!" he yelped, hastening to catch up to her.

* * *

"Oh give it a try, you know you want to."

They stood in front of the ever classic punching machine, with Akira looking at him expectantly and Tsuna eyeing the setup warily.

"I think I'm good." he said, adamantly shaking his head at the idea.

He could already see how it would end, with him getting a pathetic double digit score or flat on his face. He'd rather save himself the embarrassment.

Akira subjected him to the look.

Eyebrows knitted, eyes ridiculously sad, lips subtly pursed- the kicked puppy look. Somehow even with her hands shoved in her pockets and dark circles under her eyes she managed to pull it off to deadly effect.

Tsuna felt his resolve wavering briefly and he quickly shook his head to clear his mind. There would be no coercing him into making a fool of himself today. Not when he's been on such a good streak this week.

So he refused to meet her gaze, wisely staring fixedly down at his shoes.

"Rather not." he said.

Akira huffed and stared contemplatively at the machine.

"How about this, I'll go first, and then you."

"Uh-"

She cut the beginnings of his protest off with a pointed look.

"You know…" she drawled meaningfully, "I do recall someone saying that my luck's just as bad as yours. So indulge me here, little brother."

Tsuna's mouth clicked shut and she nodded in satisfaction. Akira went on to insert a coin into the machine and it cranked to life with a lively jingle. The punching bag dropped and she awkwardly positioned herself within striking distance.

She felt however, the beginnings of doubt and regret creep up on her as she stared down that machine. She was never that good with these 'test-your-strength' arcade games. The last time she tried one with Natsumi she had ended missing the strike zone entirely and smashed her own foot with the damn hammer.

Akira hopped around in spot, slapping her cheeks a bit to psyche herself back up. _This is for Tsuna, who cares about your self-esteem._

 _Just go up and hit the stupid thing, easy._

 _Justice in a single shot, just like your favourite superhero, Bulletman._

"The things I do for you Tsuna." the elder brunette breathed.

And she wound up her best haymaker, with all the weight of an older sibling's pride- and let it fly.

Tsuna stared in bewilderment as Akira swung with her right, missed, threw herself off balance, executed some sort of last minute spin move and ended up smacking the bag with the elbow of her other arm instead.

He blinked.

She stumbled to a stop with an equally wide-eyed expression.

Akira quickly recovered however, composing her features before he could suspect anything.

The machine whirred, clocking up the digits until they flashed 689.

She turned to her brother with an expectant quirk of her brow.

"What, no applause?" she asked.

"You mean that wasn't an accident?" Tsuna peered at her sceptically.

"Course not." she said, playing it cool as a cucumber.

Despite how obvious she was being, avoiding his gaze and all, Tsuna decided to leave it and clapped politely after a moment's hesitation.

"Sure…"

"Well then, your turn, Tsuna." Akira prompted.

And any thoughts of his sister's credibility flew out of his mind at the prospect of attempting the same thing. She rolled her eyes at his blatant reluctance.

"Oh come on! There's only me watching, and I doubt you'll do any worse than I did."

Tsuna chose not to comment on the fact she'd just inadvertently admitted her attempt had been a blunder and resigned himself to his fate with a dramatic sigh.

As her brother stepped up to the machine, Akira quickly made eye-contact with the inconspicuously hidden, suited man in the corner. She nodded, the man nodded back and Plan C of Operation: Combust was in action.

It was common knowledge that games at the arcade were often rigged, and by exploiting her affiliation with the owner, it was easy for her to take advantage of this fact. By rigging the machine to display a record score at even the weakest strike, it was a sure-kill way to boost any teenager's self-esteem.

 _"Hieee!"_

Akira whipped around at the sound of her brother's shriek just in time to catch him tripping face first into the punching bag. There was a resounding smack and then the numbers started tallying.

999 stared back at them.

There was a pause.

"Nice head butt." she finally said.

Like some complete rookie, she had forgotten to account for his clumsiness in the plan, and now the situation could go both ways. Akira gauged Tsuna warily as he brushed himself off and picked himself up from the ground in a practiced motion.

"Figures I'd get a high score on my clumsiness." He muttered, ruffling his hair dismally.

Akira silently cursed their misfortune, she tries to help her brother's abysmal self-esteem, and somehow she ends up lowering it further. No, she wasn't in the best of moods. So when her cohort in the corner rushed up to her she could only sigh.

"Did it not work, Aneki? My deepest apologies!" he managed to exclaim, before the other arcade staff- clearly more level-headed, bodily grabbed him and towed him away with hisses for him to be quiet.

One shot her an apologetic look and she waved it off, taking the commotion that as a signal to steer Tsuna out of the arcade before anything else happened.

Outside the arcade, Tsuna shot her sister a questioning look.

"Wasn't that the manager of the arcade." he asked, eyes curious. Akira grimaced.

"Yes."

"Why was he calling you Aneki then?" and after a second of thought, added, "And that friend of yours back in the alley. You didn't seem older than him."

Akira frowned, taking in her brother's innocently curious expression.

"Well Tsuna that's for me to know and for you to..." she trailed off, glancing up at the neon arcade sign.

 _Momokyodai Arcade._

'Peach Brothers Arcade'

It was a stupid and all-too obvious pun that really should be demolished.

"Hopefully never find out." she muttered and Tsuna blinked.

Akira then fixed her brother with an undecipherable stare. He fidgeted.

"W-what?"

"I am truly sorry Tsuna." Akira said, voice unusually solemn.

"Wait why?" Tsuna demanded, looking slightly disturbed. The uncanny sense for danger he'd had honed over years of being the brunt of Namimori's misfortune was going off and he really, really didn't like it.

"I never planned for it to come to this but-"

"But what?!" his voice broke through at least an octave in his growing panic.

"Plan A, B and C all failed," she continued, as if she hadn't heard his inquiries at all. "There's only plan D left."

 _"What plans?!"_

Tsuna felt his heart stop dead in his chest when a terrifyingly familiar voice cut in.

 _"Herbivore."_

There stood Hibari Kyouya, the sleeves of his jacket billowing in the afternoon breeze, with all the poise and presence of what was surely his cruel demise.

Through the sheer fear that had numbed his mind, he registered Akira patting him weakly on the shoulder. Tsuna jerkily turned look fix her with a look of such betrayal that it made the inklings of guilt flash across her face for a second. But her next words sealed his death sentence.

"Plan D for Disciplinary Committee."

 **A/N Here's Chapter 3, and whoa I've hit double digits in follows and favourites. You people are too kind for your own good.**

 **EDITED: 10/07/17 Clean up, fine tuning, no plot change**


	5. Chapter 4: Reminiscence IV

**EDIT 24/09/17: clean-up, minor addition of info, general touch-up**

 **Chapter 4**

As you grow up, you find that with siblings there's occasionally a true sense of being a package deal. Growing up under the same roof together, raised by the same parents, sharing hand-me-downs, even the obvious one of the same family name.

And when it came to the bright ideas, if it went to shit, they were both in deep shit.

The younger sibling because they would be taking the brunt of it, and the older because they would be in for it when the parents found out it was their idea.

* * *

 _Remember when you thought making me join the Disciplinary Committee was a good idea?_

Shirogane Koutarou wasn't Momokyokai's First Lieutenant for nothing.

At age seventeen, but a fresh recruit into the underground world of Yakuza, scouted for his reputation on the streets as undefeated, he had started his senseless climb for the top.

He had beat his way through the shatei* division on the backs of blood and violence alone and earned his mask as member of kyodai**, along with it the moniker of Rampaging Red Ogre for how he did it.

Still unsatisfied however, at twenty he had set his sights upwards again, fighting tooth and nail until finally he claimed his rightful title of Momokyokai's second in command. And he deferred to no-one but their late leader whose years and cunning he could not best.

Now at the age of twenty-four and far more mellowed than his volatile adolescent counterpart, he remained near the pinnacle of this family's hierarchy, undisputed and unchallenged.

War General, they now called him.

So it was fair for the shatei he passed in their headquarters to respectfully fall into line against the walls either sides of the corridor at his entrance.

"Welcome back First Lieutenant!" they echoed, punctuating the greeting with a unified, ninety-degree bow.

"Osu." the white-haired male acknowledged, flashing a lazy smile, and to those he was more familiar with, a clap on the shoulder as he passed.

In response they perked up with smiles and grins of their own.

This routine process continued until he reached the set of double sliding doors he knew would lead to the Leader's room.

A year ago he would have expected their late leader to be lounging behind the doors, dragging from a cigarette, but now the room was a cold reminder, something merely ornamental without the man to fill it.

But Koutarou would drop by occasionally, help himself to a drink at the personal bar and stew in the thoughts and memories. The rest of the family usually let him be at these times. This too was something routine.

At least until the customary guard stationed at the door purposefully placed himself between him and entry.

"Boss said no visitors." he informed with an apologetic grin.

Koutarou immediately backtracked, checking in the nearest reflective surface that he was indeed twenty-four and not eighteen. The situation seemed more befitting of his late boss, who, like the term 'late' suggested, was very much deceased.

There was only one other person his men called 'Boss'.

"Akira's actually in there?" Koutarou asked, for once breaking his placid character and looking rather dumbfounded.

The guard shifted, scratching the side of his face.

"Yeah, it's kind of weird huh?"

" _Kind of_." he echoed dully, before abruptly pushing past the guard ignoring their harried protests.

He threw the doors open with a flourish, completely forgoing knocking in favour of flashing the very smile he knew never failed to get on her nerves.

"How's it hanging li'l Boss? Have you come to officially accept your positi - are you drinking?"

Koutarou's drawl and grin immediately disappeared at the sight of her hunched over the counter of the bar in the corner, nursing a cup of clear liquid that looked suspiciously like sake.

Sawada Akira.

Now this esteemed, albeit rebellious member of their family was something short of an anomaly.

She first came to them following doggedly at the heels of their late boss, as a teen, angry at everything. He'd been no stranger to her sort, young and hot-headed, the sort that felt they had been wronged by the world. The sort that made horrible choices and ended up turning to their sort: delinquents, thugs and criminals. Trash of society.

Meeting Natsumi mellowed her out, enough for him to realise a good portion of that anger was attributed to her chronic insomnia. The rest of it she had mostly grown out of over the years. But there were some things that still made her tick. Seiji being the obvious one.

She disliked any mention of her association with the Momokyokai within public and loathed being addressed as their leader with the passion of about four thousand pissed off Hibaris, yet it was clear how strong her sense of loyalty was at times.

For a Yakuza member she was hardly an intimidating figure, even with the prominent bags under her eyes and the perpetual scowl she usually sported on her sleep deprived days (today seemed to be one of them). No, she wasn't anything like the influential figure their previous Boss was. Only on the rare occasion would she stop to check up on them in passing on the street. There was but one thing that could accurately describe her character and that was: spontaneous unpredictability.

And this summed up the situation at hand perfectly.

The teen looked up at him blearily, swirling her drink in her hands. The dim lighting of the room only seeming to accentuate the dark rings under her eyes. Not to mention she was wearing that beanie again, the grey one that she started wearing when she first joined years ago, saying that it made her look tougher. It was all a bit too western movie-dramatic for him.

"It's water." she reassured blandly, and promptly knocked the glass back downing the contents in one go.

Koutarou watched as she then went on to pour herself another, scrutinising the all too innocent-looking bottle. He was now eighty-percent sure it was sake.

"Just trying to suit the atmosphere."

He mouthed the word atmosphere to himself sceptically, squinting at her through the gloom.

"Whatever makes you feel better li'l boss..." he enunciated slowly, sliding into the seat next to the brunette and making himself comfortable against the counter. "So, did you get hit too hard in the head or something? Because I'm pretty sure symptoms of insomnia don't include re-enactments of cliché bar scenes from western films."

He felt unease pool in his stomach when she didn't reply, and he watched as she stared down into her cup broodingly. Then she let out a world-weary sigh that had him twitching.

The moment heard what was surely a mournful keen of a violin in the background, Koutarou snapped.

Screw his usual lethargic character, the disturbing prospect of Akira's crazy being contagious was enough to make him lose his cool. He could do without the disconcerting hallucinations of background music, thank you very much.

So he grabbed Akira, the source of it all, by the collar and shook her violently in a desperate attempt to rid them both of whatever insanity had decided to feast upon their minds.

"What's gotten into you, li'l boss?!" he all but demanded, brown eyes boring into hers in search of even the slightest glimmer of annoyance in reaction to being called boss. He was just a tad short of horrified when she merely averted her eyes to the side, head lolling lifelessly as yet another defeated sigh escaped her.

"I think I've made a big mistake Koutarou-san." she finally said.

He dropped her as if burned.

She never used honorifics with him. Never. Not even with the six-year age gap. He took a moment to collect himself, counting to ten in his head, then promptly slammed his forehead into hers with a crunch that sent them both reeling.

"Stop creeping me out!" Koutarou snapped, rubbing his rapidly swelling forehead and pointing an accusing finger at her.

Then he registered her rather unconscious body on the floor and grimaced.

"Whoops." he said, "It was for your own good."

A good few minutes later found them both once again in their respective positions against the bar. Both sporting good sized lumps on their forehead, Akira still nursing her 'water' in a shot glass.

Koutarou sighed, at least he managed to get the blinds open and let much needed light in.

"So, you going to tell me what that was all about?" he asked, a bit tentative after having attacked a high-school student six-years younger than him, no matter how much she disregarded the respect it should have garnered him.

"I think I've sent my brother to his death." she despaired, throwing back another shot of water.

Koutarou had to hit himself upside the head when the 'violins' started wailing again. He coughed awkwardly into his hand when the brunette looked at him strangely. As if he was the crazy one in this situation.

"Well go on then, you can't just leave a man hanging like that." he said, adopting his usual drawl to cover up his break in composed character.

Akira sighed.

"This morning..."

* * *

 _That Morning_

"Tsu-kun! Look this way!" their mother's camera clicked furiously, capturing the proud moment for the Sawada Household with a fervour. "Mama is so proud of you Tsu-kun!"

Tsuna wept inwardly as the flash continued to go off, standing stock-still in the middle of their living room with his new, clean cut, black gakuran fitting his frame. Akira stood off to the side with her hands in her pockets, looking exceptionally smug about the whole scene.

"I'd never though my little Tsu-kun would grow up to be an honourable member of the school Disciplinary Committee!"

Some sort of strangled noise of despair left the said teen at her casual comment, which Nana didn't seem catch and Akira pretended to ignore.

After that rather traumatic meeting with the demon prefect himself last afternoon, his life had changed rather drastically. Beyond the screaming need to flee for his life, Tsuna hadn't known what to think when he was given a criticising once over before being tossed the gakuran he wore now with a parting sentence of:

"You're one of us now, herbivore."

"Oh hey," Akira suddenly spoke up, breaking him out of his thoughts just in time for him to fumble and catch what she threw towards him. "You uh, forgot your armband Tsuna."

Tsuna looked utterly defeated by the gold on red embroidered piece of fabric he held in his hands. His mother on the other hand, seemed to somehow brighten even more in her excitement, practically bursting with pride as she brought the camera to eye-level once more.

"Strike a pose Tsu-kun!"

He stared into the camera with lifeless eyes. Nana blinked when the shutter didn't go off.

"Oh dear! The memory card is full already!" she exclaimed, crestfallen at the revelation, but she was back to inappropriately chipper, at least in his opinion, in the second, "I'll be back in a moment!"

When she disappeared upstairs Tsuna leapt at the chance to turn on his sister. Giving her the most betrayed look he could muster. Which was about as betrayed as a person could get.

"Akira-nee!" he grabbed her by the shoulders all but wailing his despair. "How could you do this to your own brother?!"

"It was for your own good Tsuna." she said sagely, "You need this self-esteem boost. Also, as a member of the respected Disciplinary Committee your peers will think twice about shoving you around. Because you know, Kyouya."

Tsuna wasn't appeased.

"The Disciplinary Committee members are terrifying! They'll do nothing to make me confident! Has it ever occurred to you that I might get beat up because I'm no-good?! Because you know, _Hibari-san?!_ "

Akira paused, regarding him contemplatively.

"... You have gotten considerably _sassier_ over these few weeks. I'm not sure I like it."

Tsuna spluttered, but his protests were ignored with practiced ease.

"To be fair you won't be working directly under Kyouya. You'll just be running some errands. Beginner's stuff, grunt work." she shrugged, ruffling his hair and causing him duck away with a grumble.

He glared daggers at his sister, smoothing down his unruly locks indignantly. She knew he hated it when she did that.

"In the end I'm still some gofer aren't I?!"

Akira paused at this, and sudden realisation dawned upon her face. She was more than reluctant to admit it however, and thankfully was saved from doing so when the doorbell chimed.

"Someone's at the door." she commented, quickly changing the subject and heading to the door. Tsuna stared after her, expression incredulous and mouth falling open.

"What was that suspicious pause?!"

"Ah, Kusakabe was it?" Akira's voice reached his ears, followed by a deeper, masculine voice.

"Good morning Akira-san, I've come to get your brother."

Tsuna felt the blood drain from his face. Of all the people, Kusakabe Tetsuya had come for him. He shuffled over to Akira's side, posture stiff as a board and arms locked to his sides.

"G-g-g-good m-morning K-K-Kusakabe-san!" he managed to stammer, his stutter even more pronounced than usual in the almost oppressive presence of the Disciplinary Committee's second in command.

The older teen regarded him with his usual stoic expression, his trademark piece of straw hanging from his mouth. Tsuna immediately felt obliged to bend into a respectful bow.

"I see you've changed into your uniform Sawada-kun." he said, nodding approvingly. "I'll be taking your brother with me then Akira-san, we have a busy schedule ahead of us. Come with me, Sawada-kun."

Tsuna gulped, walking to the regent haired teen with shaky steps, shooting one last pleading look over his shoulder towards his sister. Akira shifted, looking more and more uncomfortable as they started walking further away.

"Hey wait up."

Both Kusakabe and Tsuna immediately turned at the sound of her call. The latter felt hope well up in his chest, perhaps she had changed her mind about everything. Perhaps she had seen sense and perhaps she wouldn't just throw her dear little brother, her _only_ little brother to his doom like this.

Sadly, it was not the case at all.

"Let me wish my brother a bit of luck." she requested, stopping before Tsuna and pressing something into his palm. "Take this with you. If you ever do get in a sticky situation, any delinquents threaten you, if you have that with you, you'll be fine. Works like magic for me every time."

Tsuna could only nod robotically, as his mind whirred, trying to process her words. Errands normally didn't equate to delinquents and sticky situations. Did it? She gave him one last sympathetic pat on the shoulder before turning to his now superior.

"And Kusakabe? Try to go easy on him, he's not as desensitised to crazy as the rest of you."

The teen inclined his head slightly, before reaching into his pocket to pull out a folded piece of paper and handing it to her with a polite smile.

"If it helps to ease any of your worries, this is a schedule of the things the Committee and your brother will be involved in today." he said, the faintest reassuring smile on his lips.

She took the offered paper with a mumble of thanks, and watched the two head off again, Tsuna with many pleading looks shot back over his shoulder.

"Have fun, Tsuna." she called, quirking a small smile when he whipped around with an expression of pure disbelief.

"There's nothing _fun_ about this!"

Akira watched the pair for a moment longer before turning her attention towards the paper in her hands.

0730-0800 Student Uniform and Punctuality Check

0800-1100 Committee Office Duties

1100-1120 Break

So far the list seemed rather reasonable, and she felt slightly better about making her brother join the Disciplinary Committee. Until she read the second half of the schedule.

1600-1700 Out of School Patrolling

1700- UNDETERMINED Executing Discipline: Nakai High school Gang

Akira stopped dead in her tracks, mouth parting as she reread the line once more. Executing discipline. Gang. It was surprising how those three words in one line could be so foreboding.

Her first thought was: what had she done?

Her second: she was so dead when her mother found out.

"Has Tsu-kun left already? I've just found a memory card too..." Nana blinked when she noticed her eldest's frozen form in the doorway. "Is something wrong Ki-chan?"

She looked her mother in the eye, and Nana recognised the look as one her eldest often wore when she knew she was in for a scolding.

"Mum, I've killed a man."

* * *

 _Present_

"You sent your brother to die by the hands of a street gang? You are _heartless_." Koutarou emphasised, directing a purposeful expression of mock-horror towards his boss.

"I didn't know." she groaned, leaning back in her seat and consequently almost falling off as she had forgotten it was a stool without a back. Akira half-heartedly scowled, pushing her beanie out of her eyes when he lazily quirked an eyebrow at her. "You know you're supposed to be making me feel better about myself."

Koutarou shrugged.

"Yakuza." he said simply.

"Yakuza." she huffed in grudging acceptance, slamming another shot back of her water back. "What am I going to do Koutarou-san?"

"Well the Nakai Gang is known for their proficiency at leaving those who cross them with nasty knife wounds as reminders. We've actually been meaning to pay them a visit." he mused, deciding not to comment on her continued usage of -san after his name, lest he started hallucinating from the overdose of crazy in the room again. "But they don't really do much outside of that. So chances are your brother won't be brutally murdered, just a bit cut up."

Koutarou cringed when she decided to cast aside the shot glass in favour of chugging straight from the bottle. Once again that bottle was setting some warning bells off in his head despite her claiming it was water. But he brushed that aside in favour of flashing her a reassuring, leisurely smile.

"But, I'm sure it's nothing a few threats and name drops won't fix. He'll be fine!"

Akira looked up at the white haired male, a wild glint in her eyes as she nodded to herself almost absently.

"Threats, right. I can -hic- do that." She mumbled, pressing the heel of her palm to her insomnia-ridden eyes before abruptly standing and heading off back out the door. "Thanks Koutarou-san."

"Did she just hiccup?"

The doors slammed shut and he frowned. Her behaviour had been severely uncharacteristic. The first time and second she called him Koutarou-san he could brush off, but three times and he couldn't blame it on worry for her brother anymore. He shuddered at the thought. Akira showing any kind of respect towards him of all people was just wrong.

Once again he found his eyes drawn to the bottle of 'water' on the counter. Simply unable to ignore his paranoia any longer, he reached over and brought the lip of the empty bottle to his nose and took a whiff.

The sharp tang of 100% genuine Japanese sake hit him.

His relaxed smile now looking forcibly plastered on his face, he immediately barged out of the room after her, kicking open the doors in his haste and inadvertently giving the guard on the other side a heart attack.

"You!" he grabbed the poor man by the shoulders, expression just that bit strained. "Where's the li'l boss?"

"She left the compound with a metal bat and Second Lieutenant Tachibana just a second ago! She was c-cursing and swearing about teaching a gang a lesson!" he stammered out. Then he paused, and after a moment of thought, added, "Now that I think about it, that's kind of weird."

Of course it was weird. Akira would never willingly cooperate with Seiji, and involving herself with gang feuds? She swore off that a year ago.

Koutarou was now sweating profusely. He looked the guard in the eye, one of utmost seriousness. And that alone almost caused the guard to faint right there, because if you knew Koutarou, you knew he was never serious.

"Sound the alarms. Boss is drunk, she's _out of her mind_ , she's sleep deprived and she's got that red-haired lunatic to bounce ideas off- of all people! _We all know what happened the last time she got drunk._ "

The guard paled rapidly and all but bolted away in his haste to comply.

Koutarou could only shake his head and marvel at the eccentricity this Yakuza business entailed. Sometimes he wished Akira would give this unpredictability thing a rest.

* * *

 _0800-1100 Office Duties_

"New guy! Have you finished your pile?"

Tsuna scrambled to get the last few papers stamped before hastily gathering them into messy pile and brought it over to pompadour sporting and headband wearing teen currently overseeing him.

"Y-yes! H-here you go Sawamura-senpai!" he said, stumbling when he almost tripped over his shoes. The brunet flinched when the teen seemed to glower at him.

"Huh, I wasn't actually expecting you to be finished. You ain't too shabby new guy." Tsuna only had a second to blink in confusion when he started grinning at him before he was sent sprawling face first on the floor from an all too hearty 'pat on the back'. "Whoops. Man I swear they're making you first-years more fragile by the year."

He was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and bodily set back on his feet.

"There you go! You know I thought you were going to struggle real bad this stuff, when I saw your grades..." the teen trailed off waggling his eyebrows, then booming with laughter at his own quip. Tsuna could only chuckle along nervously. Adrenaline worked wonders with productivity. "I guess you can help me do the rest of mine huh, new guy?"

"Uh..." Tsuna started, only to cower when they stared him down menacingly. "O-of course Sawamura-senpai!"

He laughed uproariously again, clapping him roughly on the back and shoving another pile of papers into his hands.

"Thanks new guy!" they grinned at him. Once again, Tsuna found himself weeping inwardly as he did someone else's work. These people were way too scary to refuse. They probably eat first-years like him for breakfast. Why oh why did his sister think this was a good idea?

"Alright scumbags! Break time!" Sawamura announced, receiving cheers in response. Tsuna almost cheered along with them, until the disciplinary member turned to him with a serious look. "Oh new guy, you need to finish the work first though."

Tsuna didn't dare voice that it wasn't his work to begin with. Like he said, they were scary.

 _1100-1120 Break_

"Well shit." Seiji laughed as his one uncovered eye appraised the heavily vandalised building before them. "They really don't know anything about subtlety do they?"

Akira didn't so much as twitch when a Nakai student sped past them on a heavily customised motorcycle, engine revving obnoxiously as they drove circles around the two before speeding off god knows where.

"This whole place just screams delinquent gang, come beat me up Disciplinary Committee." he continued, not seeming to notice how his companion was now eyeing up each of the tattooed and pierced students guarding the gates with a borderline manic glint in her eye.

"Who are we going to threaten first Seiji-san?"

To his credit, the red-haired male did pause at that for a moment, because since when did Sawada Akira ever address him with honorifics? But then again, since when did he ever give a shit about such trivial things?

"Well we could start with the funny looking guys guarding the gate." he suggested, "We do actually need to get in before we can do much."

"Per-hic-fect." she said with a rather sharp smile, hefting the bat up and tapping it against her shoulder menacingly as she stalked towards the said students. Seiji found himself pausing once more, before shrugging it off with a grin of his own and following after the brunet. "Ladies!"

The group immediately stood from their crouched huddle at their approach, sneers marring their faces. One sporting a bright orange hairdo going as far as to spit at their feet.

"Who the hell are you calling ladies?" they fixed her with a contemptuous glare, dropping the butt of their cigarette and crushing it beneath their heel. "I'll have you know that you're on Nakai territory."

He was more than a bit impressed when she continued to smile politely, despite the fact that there was a thug who was at least a head taller than her, practically breathing down her neck.

"Lovely! I'm at the right place then-." Akira broke off, nose scrunching at something. "Good god that was sassy, even for me. So uh, Carrot Top, mind taking us to the leader of this circus?"

Said Carrot Top's forehead impacted with her nose. Hard.

Akira reeled, stumbling from the force.

" _Fuck-_ what is with people head-butting me today-?"

Seiji, sensing a glorious opportunity for a fight ahead, readied himself to spring into action, only to click his tongue in disappointment when she waved him down. Carrot Top unconsciously took a step back, whipping out a pocket knife when the teen straightened back up. Her smile now far from pleasant looking with the steady flow of blood from her nose painting her face.

"I did try to keep this civil." Akira stated airily, nonchalantly wiping her nose with her thumb. "But I guess us thugs don't speak civil do we?"

She grinned sharply at him, and promptly nailed the teen between the legs.

Seiji laughed.

* * *

 _1600-1700 Patrol_

"Thanks new guy!"

Sawamura grinned, and Tsuna quickly braced himself for the clap on the back he would be subjected to. His senior didn't disappoint. Neither did the rest of the group when they followed in suit. The regent haired teens passed the bag of drinks he had run to get for them with a gusto, eager to rehydrate in the late afternoon sun.

Tsuna could only nod and smile weakly back at them in acknowledgement of their boisterous gratitude. He gingerly rotated his shoulder blades when his patrol group wasn't looking and winced. There would be bruises, he was sure.

Strangely he found himself thinking that working with the DC wasn't so bad. Sure, he had to run typical gofer errands, but at least they gave him the money to buy things with. Plus, Sawamura and the rest had yet to make a comment about how no-good he was. He knew for sure that a certain senior of his with a penchant for hearty slaps on the back saw him as useful. Granted, useful in doing their work and buying drinks for them, but useful nonetheless.

He puffed up slightly in pride, a small smile adorning his face. He could get used to being in the Disciplinary Committee.

"Hey Sawamura! I think I see a bunch of our third-years smoking something over there!"

"What?! Not from our school they don't! Certainly not a mere hundred meters from Nami-Middle!" the teen's head immediately whipped around, locking onto the mentioned group and whistling towards the rest of the patrol. "Rough'em up boys! Get'em in a pincer movement!"

As his overly-eager patrol group rushed past him with whoops and savage grins, cracking their knuckles, Tsuna visibly slumped. He had spoken too soon.

"Hey new guy!" Sawamura called out, lifting a rather terrified looking third year by their collar. "I got one just for you!"

He shook his head vigorously, a borderline hysterical laugh escaping him.

"I'm fine!" he exclaimed, waving his arms around, "You guys uh- go ahead!"

His senior looked confused, as if unable to understand why anyone would refuse a chance to give a nice beating in the name of discipline.

"If you insist..." he trailed off, before understanding dawned on his face. "Oh I see! You're saving your energy for the big invasion this afternoon! I hadn't thought of that!"

Sawamura casually dropped his victim to the ground, and Tsuna winced when they landed with a smack on their tailbone. That was the least of his worries however, when his mind finally caught up to Sawamura's words.

"B-b-big invasion?" he blanched, already fearing his answer.

"You bet new guy! We're going to be infiltrating Nakai High school's Gang and putting them in their place! A real treat for your first day huh?"

His frail teenage mind, unable handle anymore, Tsuna blacked out with but one thought running through his head. He'd rather be bullied than go through this.

When he came to, he was back in Nami-Middle grounds. The courtyard to be exact. Tsuna immediately sighed in relief. It had all been some sick, sick dream he had after being knocked out by his bullies again. Now all he had to do was gather up his school supplies which were most likely strewn all across the courtyard. He froze.

All across the courtyard were DC members, lined up in military fashion, looking to be on the throes of marching off to war. Sawamura's face popped into his vision, patriotic headband and all, grinning jovially down at him.

"Right on time new guy! Our great leader was just about to give a speech before we head to rip that Nakai gang a new one!"

No.

Tsuna stared lifelessly past his senior's head, through the mass of black gakurans and the proudly raised DC war flags to where their Great Leader stood. The setting sun highlighted Hibari Kyouya's silhouette in a dramatic fashion.

A vengeful god, ready to descend upon the evildoers who dared wreak havoc in his realm. There were a couple cheers of adoration before a hush fell upon the crowd when the prefect opened his mouth.

No.

"Anyone who disrupts the peace of Namimori..." he paused for effect, a bloodthirsty smirk dancing across his lips. "will be bitten to death."

"PLEASE NO! This can't be happening to me!"

The answering roar was tremendous, and Tsuna's cry of despair was easily drowned out as the entire Disciplinary Committee fell into step behind their leader. The brunet found himself being dragged with them by the shoulder, all hope of escape lost in the tight grip Sawamura had on him. And Tsuna knew.

It was happening.

 _1700-UNDETERMINED Gang War_

 **A/N I've found that it's rather fun to write Tsuna's suffering. I'm a bad person. And I'm loving it. A huge thank you to everyone who's reading and to all those follows, favourites and reviews GAH!**

 ***SHATEI: Lowest division in the Yakuza Hierarchy, essentially the underlings. lit. meaning younger brothers.**

 **** KYODAI: Higher ranked members in the Yakuza, controls and gives orders to the SHATEI lit. meaning elder brother**

 **EDIT 24/09/17: clean-up, minor addition of info, general touch-up**


	6. Chapter 5: Reminiscence V

**EDIT 25/09/17: minor changes and additions, general clean-up**

 **Chapter 5**

When it comes down to it, siblings will weather through a lot of shit for each other. Whether if it was the consequence of some poor decision, or just plain idiocy- and to be honest Akira could safely say that their lives revolved around the two- it was some unspoken code.

For there were two key rights that one has with siblings:

One, the right to call upon them to have your back, no questions asked.

Two, the right to verbally and or physically abuse each other as long as it was in good nature.

Out of the two, it was truly hard to pick which one she preferred.

* * *

 _Remember when making me join the Disciplinary Committee ended up with us nearly dying in an all-out gang war?_

Did you know the Disciplinary Committee had free access to public transport? Tsuna personally thought it was quite a nice benefit. The view out the windows were nice, the rhythm of the wheels on the tracks were nice, even the thinly padded seats were nice.

There was really no better way to bask in the pride of being DC member than on a train.

Now hang on, what happened to the shrieking and panicking Tsuna from moments ago?

He was glad to say that he had lost that part of him, along what little hope he had left for his life. As far as he was concerned everything would be, no, _was_ absolutely fine _._ Whatever he did, the outcome of the whole situation would still be imminent. If he simply accepted his fate, everything would be fine. So now he found himself obediently crammed into a single carriage along with his fellow DC members, with the public giving them the widest berth they could. Seventy strong, clad in gakurans and all hitching a ride to Nakai High school. Their Great Leader didn't crowd with them of course.

Occasionally they would nod at a few civilians they knew from their daily rounds.

Anti-climactic? He thought it was rather therapeutic. Perhaps it had all been planned, a little calm before the storm to lull him into some false sense of security. He could care less. Tsuna was going to take whatever peace he could get before everything went to hell.

 _"We have arrived at Nakai Rd Station. Doors open on the left."_

It was a shame it didn't last very long.

He couldn't bring himself to struggle as he was shoved and shouldered by his fellow committee members onto the station platform. He simply accepted, and everything felt alright because of it. Tsuna was starting to understand his mother's constant carefree disposition a bit more.

Upon exiting the station, the Vice-Chairman was waiting with a DC flag held proudly in hand.

"The Chairman has gone ahead to clear the way!" he announced, "We will be advancing in groups to detain the Nakai Gang. We will not allow them to disrupt the discipline in Namimori!"

Tsuna nodded along, never truer words have been heard. Perhaps that was his problem before, he had disagreed with everything and lived in denial. If he had accepted everything from the beginning, maybe life would have been as easy and soothing as it was now. It all made sense.

So when Sawamura ran up to him and clapped him on the back, Tsuna whole-heartedly embraced the face plant that followed.

"New guy! I thought I'd lost you in all the excitement!" the teen carelessly threw an arm around his shoulder. "We'll be moving in our patrol groups!"

"That's wonderful Sawamura-senpai." Tsuna said with a serene smile.

"Not the best thing either, we've been assigned to the front lines!"

"The front lines?"

"You bet new guy! Knives, threats and violence, we'll be right in the thick of it!" his senior punched the air, a sloppy one two. "Ain't it great?"

"K-knives?" the stutter was back, and with it, a crack in his madness-driven, self-brainwashing.

Something was wrong. His inner peace was disrupted. He was panicking-

"Shame we have the walk there though."

And all was well again. Tsuna felt completely placid once more.

"I completely agree Sawamura-senpai."

Yes, as far as he was concerned there was still the walk there.

It was a nice walk.

* * *

"And we have visual!"

Koutarou abruptly popped up from where he had been lounging on the couch, eyes wide and looking rather comical with a lollipop hanging from his mouth. In two strides he was at the pixie haired technician's side.

"Oh boy." she remarked, shaking her head slightly. "This can't even be called a school anymore. Practically screams delinquent breeding grounds. How haven't the authorities noticed this place?"

"The authorities aren't exactly the brightest around here. That's why we get away with half the illegal things we do." he shrugged, staring at the heavily vandalised building on the screen. "Hey, move the camera to the right a bit Natsumi."

"Aye-aye." she kissed her teeth, the image shifted to settle at the gate and her eyebrows rose. "Oh look we've got dead bodies!"

"Nope, they're only unconscious."

"Pity."

Natsumi reached for her mug of coffee, looking sufficiently bored. He rolled his eyes in amusement, leaning over her shoulder to take a closer look.

"Why are they keeled over their fronts like that?"

She paused, squinting at the screen for all but a second before bursting out in laughter.

"Foot to jewels, darling." she said knowingly. "Foot to the jewels."

Koutarou winced, bowing his head in a moment's silence for the fallen.

"Shouldn't have let you teach li'l boss self-defence." he drawled after one last pitying look.

"I only taught the fundamentals to Akira dear." she looked unrepentant. "My precious baby merely favours the more effective of the many."

"Right." Koutarou hummed, "Looks like they've probably gone in already. Do you have any cameras in the building?"

"Darling, I have eyes _all_ over Namimori." She flipped through the channels casually, eyes efficiently scanning through each passing image. "Reception, bike shed, toilets, canteen."

"Li'l boss' room?"

" _Definitely_ Akira dear's room."

Koutarou snorted.

"You are shameless."

"And you're very calm for someone who barged into my section of base shrieking about an emergency."

"Wasn't shrieking." he frowned, lollipop clicking against his teeth indignantly.

Natsumi leant back in her chair, removing her headset to direct a sceptical smile at the white haired male.

"You were panicking, for someone like you that's just as bad." she said, patting him lightly on the arm before returning to the controls. "Alrighty! We have the track field, first floor corridor, second floor corridor-"

"Hold on, there's someone in the classroom." Koutarou pointed at the screen with his lollipop. Natsumi zeroed in on the silhouette turning away from the class room window.

"That was Akira dear!" she exclaimed, immediately perking up in her seat.

"Really? You sure? All I saw was someone's back."

"I'd recognise that fine ass anywhere." she stated simply.

Koutarou decided not to comment, long used to her eccentricities regarding their resident insomniac. The monitor flashed once more, this time the angle capturing the inside of the classroom.

"And we've hit delinquent jackpot." the technician announced, taking in the upturned chairs, spray painted walls and most importantly the knife wielding, white gakuran wearing teenagers.

"There must be at least twenty of them in that room." he mused. "Popular hangout place?"

"They've got Akira dear surrounded!" Natsumi cried, clutching at the monitor in her distress.

"It's fine, they're not even trying to attack them. Plus, Seiji's there if anything goes wrong." he leisurely pried her hands away from the screen. "Hang on- I think..."

He trailed off, blinking at the image. Natsumi paused as well.

"What?" she prompted.

"I think li'l boss has a _hostage_."

" _What?_ "

Needless to say the disbelief was clear. After all this was their boss, all scowls and glares, delinquent-looking in her sleep deprived glory but never anything past that.

"He's got orange hair too." Koutarou noted helpfully.

"My poor baby!" Natsumi sniffed, glaring accusingly at a figure on the screen. "The red-haired bastard has corrupted Akira dear, now she's surrounded with only a baseball bat to defend herself- _why_ does she have a bat?"

"Drank a whole bottle of sake." he shrugged.

"Where did she even get it?!"

"Boss' personal bar."

"She's drunk and with that bastard for back up?"

Koutarou huffed.

"That's why I was panicking."

The computer blipped, and Natsumi immediately straightened to attention, adjusting her headset and flipping through the feeds.

"Let me just give you another reason to panic." She turned the screen towards the white haired male.

It was once again showing the area before Nakai school gates. Pompadour sporting, and ready for a fight, Koutarou recognised the students from their signature black gakurans rather than the flags they were wielding.

"The Disciplinary Committee are here."

He was out the door before she had finished.

* * *

Tachibana Seiji was not an actor. He was Yakuza, a respected one. Anyone who was unfortunate enough to know him could tell you that he wasn't an actor. It was one of those things that just wasn't meant to be.

So why did he feel like he was in something right out of a Hollywood blockbuster?

" _Why are you doing this to me?_ "

"It's nothing personal, lad." Akira slurred, looking at her orange haired hostage almost sorrowfully. "You're third in command, I needed someone with a high enough status to gain your leader's attention. Blame him for not being here."

"When our leader comes back he'll cut you up for this!" one Nakai member with slicked back hair and a nose piercing suddenly spoke up, taking a completely unnecessary step forward.

Dramatics?

Seiji cocked his head.

"You better let An-chan go!"

There was a pause in which she turned to appraise her captive with open curiosity.

"Is your name really An-chan?"

He could understand Akira's confusion, after all nothing about a heavily pierced, tattooed man with bright orange hair warranted the honorific -chan.

"That's what I'm called yes!" the hostage confirmed.

"An-chan..." she looked the delinquent over. "Carrot-top suits you better."

Immediately Slick-back bristled.

"Don't you fucking call An-chan names!" he snapped, seeming to make a move towards the two with his switch blade in hand.

Seiji watched with raised brows as Akira immediately positioned the bat into prime position above the hostage's head.

"One more step and I'll be busting his melon like it's summer-hic-vacation*." she warned, beanie shadowing her eyes dramatically.

Dramatics.

Slick-back immediately backtracked. The rest scowled fiercely and Carrot-top seemed to be on the verge of shitting his pants. If he was correct, this should be the part where the hostage would start pleading with the terrorist-

"Please! You don't have to do this!"

There it was.

"Yes I do." she said shortly, pushing the delinquent back in their seat.

And after that, the hostage would usually try to make them see reason.

Seiji looked on expectantly.

Carrot-top did not disappoint.

"No you don't! We can talk this out!" he insisted, grabbing at the wrist closest to him and trying to get her to lower the bat. "You don't have to keep me hostage!"

"Oh but I do, Carrot-top! Don't you see?" Akira easily shook his grip off, suddenly agitated. She threw her hands up in frustration, abruptly lashing out at an innocent waste basket conveniently placed to her right. She spun on her heel, pointing a finger at Carrot-top. "You don't understand. _I don't have any other choice._ "

Seiji had to applaud how into character they were, Akira had the conflicted and misunderstood captor down to the dot. It was getting harder not to laugh. But the show had to go on. Now if she could conjure up a good enough sob story...

"Tell us why then!" the Nakai student all but demanded.

Akira hesitated. Seiji then watched as she reached into her jacket pocket and procured an object which she then presented to Carrot-top. Her wallet.

"What? You're holding An-chan hostage to extort money out of our Boss?" Slick-back sneered.

Seiji was in agreement, that was a poor excuse for the villain's motivation.

Carrot-top however seemed to be focused on something inside the wallet. From his angle, Seiji could just make out what looked to be a photo of sorts.

"He's my-hic-brother." Akira said, turning a slow circle and holding the wallet up to show each occupant of the room. "He was ten in this photo. Now, he's thirteen."

Not one person made a sound.

"He's the most kind-hearted little brother I know, and I all but sent him to his death this morning." a crack in her voice. "You see he's bullied on a daily basis, a few days ago he almost gave up on life because of it. So I thought that maybe-"

She broke off, swallowing thickly.

Seiji definitely needed some form of a recording device right now

"Maybe if I made him join the school's disciplinary committee, he might feel more confident. So I did. And today was his first day. His first day and he's only a few minutes away from dying in a gang war." Akira pointed out the window. "Any moment now, the Disciplinary Committee is going to be marching in here, intent on taking you down."

" _What?!_ "

Shouts of outrage immediately followed her statement, but before the room could fall into chaos, she continued.

"So if this is the only-hic-way I can make things right again, I'm going to make sure my brother won't end up dead because of my decision! Even if it means threatening the leader of a gang."

Somebody give this person an Oscar.

Seiji could practically hear the violins wailing away in the background from how into this sob story she was. And he knew they were buying it, because the Nakai student to his left was actually getting teary eyed.

All in all, it was the worst time for his phone to start beeping.

"Turn it off!" said student hissed, glare irate as they gestured towards the still speaking brunette. "I'm trying to listen!"

He apologised of course, as it was indeed bad etiquette to have your device on, especially while watching a show as entertaining as this one. So Seiji casually ducked out of the classroom to check his phone.

 _1 New Text from Mihara Natsumi_

That was new. She never contacted him unless it was important.

 _Disciplinary Committee incoming. Koutarou's on his way. I've got eyes on u 2, so u better not try anything on Akira dear._

The red head blinked, before looking up and straight at the camera directly above him. He wiggled his fingers and almost immediately, his phone beeped again.

 _WTF. How the hell did u know?! That's creepy af!_

His only response was a smug grin.

Beep.

 _I feel physically ill from exposure to ur face. Keep a close eye on Akira dear in case she starts acting weird like last time._

Like last time?

Beep.

 _Holy shit, u haven't even noticed? Get back to Akira-dear NOW._

Seiji shrugged, complying but not before sending that he would 'keep an eye on Akira dear's fine ass'. That would get a rise out of the amber haired adviser. Chortling he turned to head back into the classroom, intending on catching the last of Akira's sob story.

Instead he returned to find the classroom a sobbing mess of sniffling delinquents.

The brunette of course, at the centre of it all. Also shamelessly crying and hiccupping while holding a teary Carrot-top by the lapels. To say Seiji was stumped was an extreme understatement.

"H-he's a good-hic-kid you know." Akira mumbled, sniffling now and then. "He always remembers our-hic-birthdays and h-he never makes a fuss even when I steal his last bite of favourite Salisbury steak."

Even for an act, the brunette was never one to start crying so easily. Sleep deprivation usually left her eyes dry anyway. Seiji watched on as her ramblings were cut short by another bout of hiccups.

"There was this one-hic-time when we were little. He couldn't sleep because of all the bruises from his bullying and I had to-hic- stay with him until he slept. And on especially bad nights you know what we would do? We made a pinkie promise, that one day we would run away together from all the bad things, from all the b-bruises and until then, we would never do anything to hurt each other." she held up a pinkie finger, looking at it with wide, sorrowful eyes. "It was this pinkie. Now every time I look at it, I'm reminded that I've broken-hic-my promise. Do you understand?!"

The last sentence was punctuated with Carrot-top being shaken back and forth.

Being the emotionally-awkward person he was, Seiji wasn't sure whether to step in or just let her to have at it in this strange situation. And it was lucky for him, as Akira was never usually so emotional, the only time she had ever broken down was when-

His one visible eye widened in realisation.

"You're _drunk._ " Seiji stated, grinning incredulously.

Immediately he was assaulted by heated glares and hisses of irritation from all around.

"What the hell man?! Shush!"

"Can't you see this is an emotional moment?! You must be completely heartless!"

"Fucking insensitive prick!"

Surprisingly, the last comment came from Slick-back himself, who had apparently thrown aside his hatred after the thorough heart to heart that had occurred in his absence.

"He's-hic-thirteen. He doesn't deserve to be cut up you know?" Akira blubbered, eyes watering and expression suddenly solemn as she looked at Carrot-top. "You think you're the only hostage in this situation, but the truth-hic-is, in a way we're all hostages to this fucked up life we lead."

"I feel you man!" Carrot-top sobbed into his arm, "If only I had listened to momma's warnings, I wouldn't be a delinquent with no future ahead of me!"

"If only I had listened to my teachers in middle school! I would still be on my way to becoming a doctor!" Slick-back added tearfully.

"And if only I hadn't made my-hic-brother join the Disciplinary Committee, this whole hostage thing would have never happened! And we all could've even been-hic-friends!"

Somehow, in the span of one minute, their sob fest had turned into some kind of lamenting session of regrets.

His grin only grew.

"You are _completely_ shit-faced!" the red head choked, visible eye shining with mirth.

And shit faced she was, until a brick sailed through the window and hit her upside the head. Then she was flat faced on the ground and down for the count. The Nakai gang members swarmed towards the window, looking completely enraged at their story sharing being interrupted.

"It's the damn Disciplinary Committee!"

"How dare they throw a brick at our friend!"

"THIS MEANS WAR!" Slick-back bellowed. "SIC'EM FELLAS!"

"AVENGE OUR FRIEND!"

"You're coming with us red-head! I'm sure you'll want your revenge too!" Carrot-top grabbed the man by the arm before he had the chance to protest.

The angry mob stampeded out of the classroom, dragging the red-head with them, leaving an unconscious brunette in their wake. And overwhelmed with the complete absurdity of this whole situation, Seiji decided to do what he did best.

And that was to laugh hysterically.

* * *

Tsuna was back to panic mode.

Why?

Because the nice walk had ended, and now he was standing before Nakai gates, staring down the building that housed dangerous, knife wielding, high school gangsters. A bloodthirsty patrol behind him, and unconscious people in front of him.

Did he mention the unconscious people?

Because there were unconscious people.

They were people.

They were unconscious.

They probably had knives- and now he's glad they're unconscious.

"Looks like someone's made our job that much easier." Sawamura commented, nudging the body closest to him with his foot. Tsuna twitched at this.

"Think it was Chairman?"

"Nah, they don't look beat up enough. No broken bones." his senior replied, then he clapped his hands to get their attention. "Alright, listen up boys! As the first line of attack, Vice Chairman Kusakabe-san has asked us to draw their attention. The other groups will then perform the classic flanking manoeuvre-"

He makes a violent pincer motion with his hands.

"-and BAM! A Nakai mince-meat sandwich!"

At this point, Tsuna had been completely lost in his spiralling thoughts of his inevitable demise, until something heavy was dropped into his hands.

"It's tradition that the honour goes to New guy." Sawamura boomed with a wide grin. When the brunet merely stared at him, wide-eyed, the teen clapped him on the shoulder encouragingly. "Go on! Have at it! Peg it at a window or something!"

Not trusting himself to be able to speak coherent sentences, he shook his head furiously. Sawamura's grin immediately did a one eighty, and Tsuna suddenly found himself with a very intimidating regent-haired senior looming over him.

"I said it's _tradition_ that the _honour_ goes to the new guy." he asserted, teeth flashing menacingly. Tsuna nodded frantically, expression akin to a deer caught in headlights.

He shakily hefted the brick in his hands, and pegged it as hard as he could in the general direction of the building. Anything to get his senior off his back and avoid a premature death before the actual war had even started.

Adrenaline and fear must have working in his favour as the shattering of glass reached his ears soon after and his fellow DC members started cheering.

"Whoa, did you see how far that went?!"

"I don't think I could've thrown it that far!"

"Second floor!"

Tsuna glanced up curiously, had it actually reached the second floor window? He straightened in pride only to promptly cower again when he caught sight of Nakai gangsters crowding at the said window.

"Nice one new guy! You even got the classroom with the punks in it!" Sawamura crowed, gesturing wildly towards the group. "Fly the colours and raise those voices boys!"

The DC flag was proudly hoisted in all its gold and red glory, and to add to his already frayed nerves, all his fellow group members started belting out the Namimori school anthem at the top of their lungs.

It wasn't a surprise when he heard the Nakai students identify them with ease.

 _"It's the damn Disciplinary Committee!"_

"Damn right it is!" Sawamura bellowed right back, he turned to Tsuna, handing him a rusty pipe. "Take this new guy! Ready boys?! CHARGE!"

And charge they did, like housewives at a half price shopping sale, they charged with a fervour and they charged without Tsuna. The brunet hung back, awkwardly clutching the pipe and debating whether to make a run for it or not. Because let's face it, any sane thirteen-year-old in his situation would rather run than participate in a violent gang war.

But another part of him felt bad for leaving his new found comrades to fend for themselves.

So his dilemma began.

* * *

Sawamura was a firm believer in the phrase 'safety in numbers'. He was a numbers man, despite his looks. When it came to missions that involved confrontations like these, he would make sure that he knew exactly how many people he was working with. He would then use that number to judge which confrontations they would be able to handle and which ones they couldn't.

If they outnumbered the enemy forces, they would go straight for the 'kill'. If the number matched the opponent's, they would also engage in combat. If enemy forces outnumbered them, they would retreat, and possibly face the disappointment and wrath of their Great Leader. A simple and sure fire concept that he drilled into each of his comrades' heads before any patrol or gang altercation.

So when his group entered the building to find Nakai punks waiting for them, blocking any means of advancing further, he immediately started counting. Twenty heads, the number matched their own.

Sawamura readied his trash talk.

"Lookie what we have here!" he called, making sure the punks before them heard. A Nakai punk with his hair slicked back had the gall to sneer at them.

"Disciplinary Committee pigs think they can tussle with the big kids huh?" they laughed derisively, pulling out the switchblades and knives they were notorious for. "Let's show them just how the big kids play!"

He snorted, sharing amused looks with his fellow DC members.

"Are those pathetic, little knives supposed to be a representation of what's in your pants?" Sawamura leered, relishing in the looks of fury that passed through their group.

"You should watch your mouth!" the same punk spoke up again, "We outnumber you twenty to nineteen!"

At this, the regent haired teen abruptly reeled back in confusion, sneer dropping from his face. That couldn't be right, he had counted his men three times before they had set off. A hesitant tap on his shoulder.

"Sawamura-san. The new guy's not with us." he informed, now looking rather nervous. "They outnumber us."

Sawamura was a numbers man, and this was not good news for him.

"What?!" he hissed, "New guy wouldn't abandon us like that!"

His group tittered nervously at the sudden revelation. Slick-back caught onto their nervousness and grinned victoriously.

"Not looking so high and mighty now are you? Let me teach you a lesson about attacking our dear friend with a brick."

Now the usual course of action would have been to retreat and suffer the humiliation, however the Nakai had them surrounded on all sides. Suddenly the knives they were holding looked so much more dangerous.

To fight was out of the question as well, having ingrained into his comrades that being outnumbered meant a retreat, all of them would most likely not be coordinated enough to fight back. The Nakai circle closed in, and Sawamura silently prayed for a way out of the mess they had found themselves in.

Their way out came in the form of the strangest battle-cry, one that had all heads turning in the direction of the door.

"hiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEE **EEEEEEEEEE!** "

And with the flair and dramatics only a DC member could ever possess, their very own newest recruit came sprinting through the doors, clutching his rusty pipe with the most determined expression upon his face.

"New guy's come to help us!"

"I knew he wouldn't betray us like that!"

As he watched the brunet continue to wildly barrel towards the Nakai punks Sawamura perked back up.

"We're outnumbered no longer!" he declared. "Fall in behind New Guy! ROUGH'EM UP BOYS!"

With an answering roar and a newfound respect for their newest recruit, they rushed the still of kilter Nakai gang, each engaging their respective enemy. In the midst of the fight they didn't notice how the brunet ran through the thick of battle, brandishing his rusty pipe, he reached the red-haired delinquent standing furthest back in the group-

And proceeded to run straight past them.

For Tsuna hadn't been valiantly running to their rescue, because Tsuna and valiant simply did not go together. No, he had been running for his life. Moments after Sawamura and his group had left him at the gate, he had been fully prepared to run back home while he could.

His sister didn't raise no hero.

However, just as he turned to do so, he had caught sight of a mob of men on motorcycles bearing down on him at a terrifying speed. One look at the bleached hair, white gakuran and the pompadour that could rival Kusakabe-san's the leader sported had him bolting in the opposite direction.

Which unfortunately took him straight into the thick of Nakai territory.

And that was how he found himself with his panic levels at an all-time high, running from floor to floor like a headless chicken, shrieking the whole way.

He must have passed at least fifteen (highly confused) Nakai students before he finally found an empty classroom to hide out in. Tsuna hastily slammed the door behind, shoving a stray desk in front as a barricade before relaxing and slumping against the graffitied wall. He was finally alone.

"Hunrgh?"

The brunet went stock still at the muffled groan. He wasn't as alone as he believed.

Tsuna clutched his rusty pipe tightly, all but shaking in his shoes as he peered over the various scattered furniture and locked onto the shadowy figure rousing from the floor.

His eyes widened in recognition.

"Aki-nee?!" he exclaimed in surprise, immediately he ran to his sister's side. "What are you doing here?!"

"Wha...? Tsuna?" Akira inquired groggily, looking very out of it. The dark rings around her eyes seemed more pronounced than usual, resulting in a perpetual glare. That was when he noticed her bloody nose and overall dishevelled state.

"HIEE! You're injured-!" he abruptly broke off when a hand slapped at his mouth weakly.

"Stop shouting you're making my head hurt..." she cradled her head gingerly, grimacing in pain. "Man I feel like I have a hangover or something."

"Sorry." Tsuna immediately lowered his voice. "Did they beat you up or something?"

Akira blinked, eyebrows furrowing as she tried to recall what happened.

"I kind of remember something hitting me in the head from behind." the brunette muttered, glancing around herself and she paused when she caught sight of something. "No wonder my head feels like it's splitting open! What kind of asshole throws a brick at someone?"

Tsuna froze, eyes flickering up to take in the sight of a broken window.

He cringed.

"Y-yeah, what an a-asshole huh?" Tsuna laughed nervously, quickly changing the subject. "W-why are you here anyway?"

At this, Akira seemed to suddenly straighten to attention, grabbing him by the shoulders and slowly shaking him left and right.

"You're not uh, cut up or anything right? You know... the knives, they didn't get you with those did they?" she asked, fussing over him awkwardly, pinching at the ends of his hair, lifting his arms and turning them over several times.

"N-no I'm uh fine Aki-nee." Tsuna said quickly, slightly touched by her concern.

Akira drew back and stared at him, expression unreadable.

"A shame." she finally said.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" he demanded, any warm feelings immediately disappearing. "Did you want me to get cut up?!"

"Why hasn't this whole thing ended yet?" Akira asked, seeming not to hear him. She frowned at the ongoing skirmishes in that had now spread to courtyard. "I thought with the Kyouya in the fray, they would all be bloody pulps by now."

Tsuna warily poked his head out the window to observe the battle with her. He winced when his ears were assaulted by yelling, curses and various profanities.

"Maybe it's because they're spread out everywhere. Finding all of them would take time." he suggested.

"Then there's the fact that it's high schoolers against middle schoolers."

"What do we do now Aki-nee?"

The brunette merely grimaced before stooping down and picking up the metal bat on the floor.

"You have something you can defend yourself with?" she asked, casually hefting the bat onto her shoulder.

"W-well I have this." Tsuna held up the rusty pipe.

"Good. Let's go then." she said, kicking the table to the side and striding out of the classroom.

"H-hey wait up!" the brunet quickly rushed after his sister, falling into line beside her with sense on high alert. "What do you mean let's go? Go where?"

"We're going home of course." Akira clicked her tongue when a shoe flew through the window and landed in front of them. "Duh."

"What?! But there's a gang war going on here!" Tsuna spluttered.

"Exactly the reason why we're getting out of here."

"B-but Sawamura-san and my DC group is still fighting out there!" he protested, causing Akira to look at him in confusion.

"And?"

"And they kind of actually like me..." Tsuna hesitated, twiddling his thumbs. "and I don't really want them to think badly of me."

"Wha-." she started.

"You!"

Both heads whipped around at the sound of the new voice. Tsuna caught sight of the white gakuran and starting quaking with fear.

"It's a Nakai gangster!" he yelped. Akira was immediately on the defensive, raising her bat but readying to execute her signature self-defence move if necessary. The Nakai student however, immediately raised his hands in a calming gesture.

"Whoa! Chill!" they stopped a foot away, too close for comfort. "It's me remember? I'm glad you're awake now! Our leader just came back and I was worried he might have found you!"

Akira stared the orange-haired delinquent down, clearly suspicious. At this, they actually seemed put out.

"C'mon! Remember me?" he pointed at his brightly coloured mohawk. When there was no recognition he looked angry. "Taking that brick to the head must have made you lose your memory! If I get my hands on the bastard who did it- Hey is that your brother?"

Tsuna squeaked, taking a fearful step back.

"How do you know us?" Akira demanded guardedly.

"You held me hostage remember? We had a heart to heart where you told us about your brother!"

"Nope, don't remember that." she said bluntly. "More importantly Carrot-top, are you going to be attacking us anytime soon?"

Tsuna found it weird how the delinquent seemed to brighten at the nickname instead of reacting angrily.

"Of course not!" they looked offended at the idea. "You're my inspiration!"

"Oh thank god." Akira exhaled in relief. "Okay, let's go Tsuna."

"B-but what about Sawamura-san and my group?"

"Tsuna, don't be a hero. What can we do anyway?" Akira frowned at her brother.

"I-I don't know." Tsuna admitted, when his sister began to start walking again, he hastily stopped her. "H-hey wait! You got me into the DC to help me feel better about myself right? Well Sawamura-san and my group are the closest things to friends I have! So can we at least do something?"

Akira looked conflicted, and combined with sleep deprivation Tsuna knew he was playing a dangerous game, if the scowl upon her face was any indication.

"Please?" he even pulled the Look, deciding to take a page from her book.

"Fine." she relented. "For the sake of your ridiculously horrible self-esteem."

"Thanks!" Tsuna smiled brightly, before faltering. "So uh, what are we going to do?"

"First rule of self-defence is to go for the weak spot." Akira revealed before looking towards Nakai delinquent. "Hey Carrot-top, you guys should have petrol lying around for your bikes right?"

"Of course! We have a stash by the courtyard well! Why?"

"I'm going to need some of that. Mind getting some for me?"

"Anything for a friend!" Carrot-top said, already starting to head off.

"I'm going to need a megaphone and some beer too! The bottled kind, none of that canned shit!" she called after him. "Especially for what I'm thinking of doing."

Tsuna suddenly had a bad feeling about what Akira was planning.

"What exactly are you planning Aki-nee?" he dared to ask.

"Don't you worry about it brother dearest." was the vague reply.

It only made him worry more.

* * *

 _"Attention students of Nakai."_

All heads turned at the sound of Akira's voice being projected through the megaphone, some peered out of the windows. From where he was huddled in the bushes near the bike shed, Tsuna started praying to the heavens.

 _"Give yourselves up to the Disciplinary Committee now, or there will be consequences."_

Derisive laughter ensued, and mocking comments were thrown in their direction. Akira was unfazed, sending a meaningful look towards her brother. The brunet nodded shakily handing her the object she wanted.

Their plan was simple, but terrifying. They were to first draw the whole gang's attention, then they were to coerce them into surrender. How? By threatening their dearest possessions. With the amount of customisation they've seen, it wasn't hard to conclude that they loved their motorcycles. But it was how they were going to do it that had Tsuna completely petrified.

 _"Let me set the scene for you."_

It was what she managed to fashion out of petrol, empty beer bottles and a strip of old gakuran that had him wishing he had never asked for her help.

 _"I'm at your bike shed. I have access to your bikes. There is kerosene leaking from all the petrol tanks."_

Akira lit the Molotov cocktail.

 _"And I have the means to make it all go boom."_

Dead silence met her words. The flame burned bright for all to see. Then there was pandemonium.

"Please! Don't blow up our bikes!"

"I beg of you! You can't harm Ol' Betty!"

"Have mercy on our babies!"

The brunette blinked in surprise, she had completely underestimated just how much the Nakai gang treasured their bikes. At least it was working in their favour. She raised the megaphone to her mouth once more.

 _"If you don't give yourselves up to Discipline, I'll make sure you'll never see your bikes again-"_

"What are you doing friend?!"

Akira looked to see Carrot-top staring at her in horror.

"You can't do this to my bike!" he pleaded, and the brunette side-stepped just in time to avoid his frantic lunge for the bottle.

"No wait!" she tried to explain. "I'm not actually going to-"

"I've misjudged you friend!" Carrot-top declared, pointing an accusing finger towards her. "I thought you understood us!"

Tsuna watched Akira narrowly dodge another grab at the molotov with growing fear. At this rate, they might actually make her drop the explosive. He had to do something.

"You can't just try to blow up a man's bike and expect them to be okay with it!" Before he could lunge again, Carrot-top froze, face suddenly screwed up in pain. She watched with wide eyes as his rolled to the back of his head, and fell over clutching at his nether regions.

Akira met her brother's equally stunned gaze. He spluttered, wringing his hands.

"I had to! He was going to make you drop it!" Tsuna defended, stepping over Carrot-top's felled body. Or at least he tried to.

It was the absolute worst moment for his clumsiness to make a reappearance. And it was in slow motion that Tsuna tripped, knocking right into his sister and sending the molotov flying from her hands.

Glass shattered upon impact with kerosene and Akira only had a but five seconds to pull her brother and herself as far away as she could before the bike shed _exploded_.

Heat blasted their faces, burning debris, bits of shed and bike alike rained down upon them. Then all was silent.

The two could only gape at the destruction they had caused in utter, speechless shock. It took a whole five seconds before Akira snapped back to her senses. She immediately grabbed at her brother, hauling him to his feet and almost stumbling in the process.

"Uh Tsuna I think we should get out of here." she said, starting to drag his still dazed self after her. "Unless you still want to stick around for your DC friends."

"N-no. Running's a good idea. Running is _good_." Tsuna agreed quickly, hurrying after his sister past the shell-shocked DC members and Nakai students.

"Then start running faster Tsuna!" Akira urged, "I don't want to be here when they realise what we've done."

Tsuna took one look at the still frozen Nakai delinquents and promptly legged it. The brunette was about to follow in suit, until she caught sight of a familiar red head amidst the sea of black and white gakurans.

"Red! I'm leaving you to take care of damage control!" she called, bolting away before he had any chance to object.

"Shit Akira! You so owe me for this!" Seiji's laughter followed her to the gates where she caught up with her brother.

"Go go go Tsuna!"

"I am!" he squawked indignantly, but when the same delinquent with the bleached hair and pompadour he'd seen on the bike suddenly jumped out in front of them looking completely pissed off, he had to falter. Akira recognised the Nakai gang leader with ease.

"You punks think you can fucking waltz into _my_ gang's territory, blow up _my_ bike and get away with it?!" they snarled, pulling out a machete. "Think again!"

"WHY IS HIS KNIFE SO HUGE?!" Tsuna shrieked.

"HE'S COMPENSATING!"

And in the most beautiful display of sibling coordination and synchronisation, they nailed him right in the family jewels. Needless to say, the gang leader crumpled.

"Holy shit! Atta boy Tsuna!" Akira chortled loudly. "That's my boy! Now run!"

So they ran. Through the streets of Namimori, past rows of houses and confused passers-by, under flickering street lights, they ran. And they didn't stop until they reached the safety of home.

That was how Nana found them. Wheezing heavily, drenched in sweat and sprawled across the front lawn looking strangely singed.

"My! Welcome back Tsu-kun, Ki-chan!" she chirped, crouching down before the duo with a warm smile. "Seems like you two had quite the eventful day!"

They looked at each other, still on a high from the adrenaline rush, and promptly burst into borderline manic laughter.

 _"You have no idea."_

 **A/N 10 Reviews, 26 Favourites and 28 Follows. IT'S A DOUBLE DIGIT TRIPLE WHAAAMMMMYYYYYYYY! HOOOOOOOLY SHIIIIZ you guys are awesome. Really. I can't even. One a side note, Happy late Birthday to the one and only Xanxus, you fantastic bastard. Missed it by one day. Damn.**

 **EDIT 25/09/17: minor changes and additions, general clean-up**


	7. Interlude

**A/N It's been a long time since the last update due to exams and real life, but I promise the next chapter will be out by next week. Until then, here's a little extra to tide you guys over! For those of you who are earlier readers of this story, go check out the prologue again and let me know what you think. I changed to something I think is a bit better. Thanks!**

 **Extra**

 _A different victim of bullying._

"So my son was _bullied_ and my daughter _beaten_?" Iemitsu summarised, tone icy and jaw clenched. His fingers dug grooves into the varnished tabletop in an effort to keep form tearing out the door and exacting bloody vengeance.

Timoteo watched the action warily over his cup of tea.

Sometime later...

"No, to be a Vongola candidate, some form of control of flames is needed, so far little Akira hasn't demonstrated any form of Dying Will Flames."

"But my son, Tsuna has! Is that what you're trying to say?!" Iemitsu demanded, slamming his fist on the table and choking back the snarl of frustration that threatened to leave him.

This time the Ninth's eyes narrowed in disapproval.

"Iemi-"

The blonde violently kicked the table leg in his anger.

The other had enough.

" **Iemitsu!** " Timoteo roared, fury rolling off him in waves as he abruptly rose from his chair. "I will not stand for your _appalling_ abuse of this table any longer! Bullying a faithful companion who is incapable of even fighting back is _repulsive!_ "

Millions of tables around the world are subjected to abuse involving violent acts of kicking, beating and scalding from hot beverages. Even at this moment, an unfortunate table is being flipped in order for another's entertainment and amusement.

You have the power to stop this. Stop table bullying today.

* * *

 _Suitable for audiences..._

"Yeah so if you can get that love letter done by tomorrow it'll be great. Make it good alright?"

 _"Oh I'll make it good alright don't worry Akira-dear~."_

"Okay thanks Natsumi."

Akira snapped her phone shut, finally intending on attempting to get some rest, but a nagging feeling had her hesitating. "I'm feeling like I'm forgetting something important."

After allowing a good moment's of thought into the matter, she shrugged and whole-heartedly fell back onto her bed.

 _Nami Middle next day_

Tsuna was having a rather pleasant week. Without the constant paranoia of being hounded by his usual assailants, he was actually enjoying himself at school. To the point that he was whistling cheerfully all the way to his locker once the end of school bell rang.

The brunette stopped.

Blinked.

Rubbed his eyes furiously.

There was a pink letter in his locker. A love letter? Tsuna found himself blushing furiously at the prospect. He almost hit a passerby with his flustered flailing before he calmed down enough to actually pick it up and open it.

 _My dearest love, enclosed in this letter is something I hope will convey exactly the extent of my love towards you._

 _xoxo_

 _Your secret admirer_

Tsuna blushed once more, never in his life did he think he would actually have a secret admirer. He couldn't help but strike a little celebratory pose.

The action caused something fall out of the envelope. Something that _wasclearlynotaletter_.

His brain short-circuited.

Akira was halfway home when she received a call from an unknown ID.

"Hello?"

 _"Hello, is this Sawada-san?"_

She blinked before mumbling a confirmation.

 _"This is the Nami-Middle's nurse calling to inform you that your brother is in the sick bay due to excessive blood loss from the nose."_

"Wait what?"

 _"Yes, I haven't been able to discern why moment but he was clutching a letter of sorts."_

Akira paused, an inkling of realisation hitting her.

"May I speak to him?"

 _"Of course, but he is a bit incoherent at the moment."_

The phone was quickly exchanged.

"Tsuna what happened?" she inquired seriously.

 _"R-r-r-r-r-red l-l-l-lace. F-f-fell o-out. R-r-red l-l-lace."_

Akira blanched, bringing a hand to cover her face in dismay.

"I forgot to tell her to keep it PG." she muttered.

* * *

 _D for..._

"I am truly sorry Tsuna." Akira said, voice unusually solemn.

"Wait why?" Tsuna demanded, looking slightly disturbed.

"I never planned for it to come to this but-"

"But what?!" his voice broke through at least an octave in his growing panic.

"Plan A, B and C all failed," she continued, as if she hadn't heard his inquiries at all. "There's only plan D left."

"What plans?!"

"Plan D for..." Akira paused for dramatic effect.

Tsuna immediately leapt to conclusions.

"DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE?!" he shrieked.

"Huh, what?" His sister looked thrown. "No."

"DANGEROUS DOGS?!" his hands flew up to clutch at his head.

"No! Nothing life-threatening as that. Who in their right mind would throw their brother to the DC or dogs?" Akira frowned. "Have a little faith in your sister. I meant D for dance lessons."

"D-dance?"

"Yes, I've heard it's a great confidence booster so I signed you up at a local class."

That was how Tsuna found himself standing awkwardly in Namimori's Youth Dance Centre, waiting for the rest of the students. So far the people who were currently present seemed nice enough, and not one had given him a single judging glance as a newcomer.

Tsuna thought the whole idea might not be so bad after all.

Up until a group of teenagers sporting familiar red armbands traipsed single-file into the room. All having traded in their signature regent hairstyle for terrifying retro afros and disco pants. Zebra print shirts, ruffles, swirls, glittery polyester, heeled shoes and flared collars partially unbuttoned to proudly display their chests.

"Alright boys! The name's Sawamura and I'm your instructor!" the teen at the forefront struck a pose, winking and flashing his pearly whites in a greasy smile. "Let's get _groovy_!"

Tsuna then caught sight of Kusakabe at the back showing off his own gaudy medallions and star shaped shades and promptly legged it.

He was not hanging around long enough to catch their Chairman rock up in a purple sequined shirt and a 'fro.

"Well, I did say sorry beforehand." was not enough to excuse the horrors forever burned into his mind.

* * *

 _Take this with you_

"Oh hey," Akira suddenly spoke up, catching his attention just in time for him to fumble and catch the object thrown toward him. "You uh, forgot your armband Tsuna."

Ding! [Item received from _Akira_ ]

[DC Armband (Uncommon)]

[Equip? Yes/No]

{Yes}

Ding! [The item causes your spirits to fall. Morale -10]

Tsuna looked utterly defeated by the gold on red embroidered piece of fabric he held in his hands. His mother on the other hand, seemed to somehow brighten even more in her excitement, practically bursting with pride as she brought the camera to eyelevel once more.

"Strike a pose Tsu-kun!"

Ding!

[New Quest! Mother's Future Embarrassing Photo Collection: Strike a dramatic pose for _Nana's_ camera]

[Rewards: XP 100 Relationship +20]

[Accept? Yes/No]

{No}

He could only stare into the camera with lifeless eyes. Nana blinked when the camera didn't take the picture. "Oh! The memory card is full already!" she exclaimed, looking slightly crestfallen at the revelation, but she was back to inappropriately chipper, at least in his opinion, in a moment. "I'll be back in a moment!"

Moments later found Tsuna following timidly behind _Kusakabe Lvl 38_. Wishing dearly that the [Flee] option would pop up. Sadly it didn't.

"Hey wait up."

Both Kusakabe and Tsuna immediately turned at the sound of Akira's call. The latter felt hope well up in his chest, perhaps she had changed her mind about everything.

Sadly it was not to be at all.

"Let me wish my brother a bit of luck." she requested, stopping right before Tsuna and pressing something into his palm. "The road ahead will be dangerous, take this with you. If you ever do get in a sticky situation, any delinquents threaten you, if you have that with you, you'll be fine. Works like magic for me every time."

Ding! [Item received from _Akira_ ]

[Realistic Hibari Mask x1 (Legendary)]

Tsuna stared blankly.

[Item Select: Realistic Hibari Mask x1 (Legendary)]

{Discard}

[Are you sure? Yes/ No]

{Yes}

Akira winced when her brother threw the object to the ground with a vicious thwack.

"T-Tsuna?"

[Player Select: Akira]

{Block}

* * *

 _All-knowing_

Seiji suddenly straightened.

"Akira there's one around the corner."

His warning was followed immediately by the sound of the delinquent falling as Akira executed her signature move.

"Nice-hic-one Seiji-san." Akira shot and uncharacteristically bright smile towards the man.

"Watch out the one in front's got a knife behind his back." he called a few moments later.

"How'd he know?!" was all they managed before they too fell before the foot to the jewels.

"Hey Akira careful, that one's a pedophile."

"I AM NOT!" they protested immediately.

"He does, he's got rather controversial photos of shotas in his pocket."

"How did he know?!"

They too, went down in the name of justice. Akira, even in her intoxicated state, knew to be impressed by his observations.

"Impressive Seiji-san, any more up your sleeve?" she asked.

The redhead rubbed his chin in thought.

"Natsumi's got a camera installed in your room to peep on you." he revealed bluntly, shooting a shit-eating grin towards the camera in the corner.

"SHIT! How did he know?!" the amber haired technician latched onto the monitor with wide eyes.

Akira blinked.

"How _do_ you know all this Seiji-hic-san?"

He fixed her with a completely serious look, before pointing to his eye-patch after a dramatic pause.

"I've got a magical seeing eye." he stated. "It makes me all-knowing."

They stared at eachother. Akira snorted, dismissing the idea with a hiccup.

"Psh, magical eyes don't exist. That's just stupid Seiji-san."

The other chortled.

"I guess it is. Kind of lame too." he admitted.

Somewhere in the depths of the Vendicare, an illusionist sneezed.

"Someone's talking badly of me."

His cellmate raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know byon?"

"Kufufufu..."


	8. Chapter 6: Reminiscence VI

**Chapter 6**

Teamwork and siblings are two words that rarely go together.

Unless it's to get themselves out of a sticky situation with their parents. In those times siblings are like a well-oiled, cohesive machine, covering each-other's backs, backing up dubious alibis and filling up for any holes in each other's fibs.

* * *

 _Remember our friend consequences?_

All eyes in the Sawada household were glued to the television screen at breakfast. Tsuna with an anxiety that grew with each bite of his omelette. Akira with a mix of both intense concentration and unfocused gazing that left her still raised chopstick of rice forgotten. Nana with a casual curiosity, leisurely drinking from her steaming bowl of soup.

 _"-incident at Nakai High last evening. An explosion caused by a supposed gas leak near the bike shed, left none injured but many students in distress over the loss of their bicycles in the resulting fire. It has been decided the school will be closed for inspection of further leakages."_

"How terrible." Nana murmured, eyebrows knitting in worry. "Thankfully none of them we're hurt. Right Ki-chan?"

Akira started from her stupor, tearing her eyes away from the shot of the explosion to meet her mother's expectant look.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Yeah." she hastily agreed, averting her gaze and clearing her throat awkwardly. Her third consecutive day of insomnia was leaving her muddled. "Very glad."

Her attention eventually drifted back to the screen, where amongst the fire and debris two very familiar silhouettes were in her opinion, sticking out like sore thumbs. She brought her empty chopsticks to her mouth, not noticing the clump of rice now sticking to the tabletop.

 _"Namimori's Disciplinary Committee was patrolling the area and fortunately reported the explosion before the fire could spread. The Chairman had other duties to attend to so we have the Vice President here to tell us exactly what went down yesterday."_

Tsuna twitched when the screen cut to a familiar close-up of Kusakabe's ever stoic expression.

"Disciplinary Committee? You were there Tsu-kun?" Nana inquired, worrying her lip at the thought. The next bite almost went down the wrong way. Akira quickly shoved the bowl of miso under his nose, which he gulped down in relief. He didn't miss the cautioning look he was given.

"Of course not!" it was by some miracle he kept his stutter under control. "I was back at school doing completely safe things such as uh, paperwork! Yeah! There was lots of paperwork! No explosions at all!"

She furrowed her brows, staring her youngest down. In the following scrutinising silence, Akira almost burnt off her own tongue, freezing with her bowl of miso raised to her mouth and Tsuna's omelette nearly flew out of his chopsticks with how hard his hands were shaking.

The T.V decided it was an opportune moment to replay the explosion with their silhouettes in the background. They shifted discreetly, shielding the view of the screen with their bodies, tension only rising with every passing second.

"That's good. I wouldn't want you in any danger because of club activities." Nana breathed a sigh of relief, which in turn had the other both her and her brother wholeheartedly mimicking the action. Fortunately, the phone ringing from down the hallway saved them from further questions. "Oh! I'll get it."

The moment she disappeared around the corner, both slumped in their seats. Akira pressed the heel of her palm into her eye wearily.

"Oh man. I know you're bad at lying Tsuna, but please try not to shave any more years off my already dwindling, young life."

"Well excuse your No-Good brother." he huffed, finally relaxing enough to eat properly again. "Not like you were any better Aki-nee. You couldn't even look at her in the eye!"

"So we both suck at lying, maybe it's hereditary." Akira allowed, leaning back in her seat, having finished breakfast. "We all know it doesn't come from mum."

"Figures _that guy_ would find a way to make our lives worse even when he's not around." Tsuna grumbled into his rice.

"That guy?" Akira's eyebrows rose, looking rather amused at his sulking. "Sure he might not be around much but you have to be a bit grateful towards him Tsuna."

"What for?"

"Like it or not he is our father." she shrugged laxly. The brunet set down his chopsticks, looking down at his lap.

"So?"

Akira paused, mouth parted in thought. Then she slowly leant forward, clasping her hands on the table with a deliberate seriousness.

"Well Tsuna." she began, expression solemn. "When a man and woman love each other very much-"

Tsuna spluttered. Going from bitter to down-right mortified in three seconds.

"W-w-w-why are you suddenly talking about that for?!" he screeched. "It has nothing to do with what we were talking about!"

"Oh that wasn't what you were asking? You learn those things so fast in Health class now. Well..." Akira continued after scratching at her head, looking completely unabashed. "So you know what I'm getting at when I say our father is half the reason we were born into this world right?"

"Yes, yes! I do! Now can we please can we not talk about it?!"

"But of course, half the credit goes to mum, since a male's sperm needs an egg to ferti-"

"HIEEEEE! I'm not listening! I'm not listening!" Tsuna slapped his hands over his ears, hunching over at the table in an attempt to drown out his sister's voice and end the horror. It took a good few minutes for Akira to stop smiling smugly afterwards.

"Feeling better about the whole thing now brother?" her face was still much to gleeful for his taste.

"No!" His answer was immediate.

"Ah well." she stifled a yawn, glancing towards the television again. "I thought you'd be happier we haven't been caught by the police for our little explosion stunt."

"You mean _your_ explosion!" Tsuna corrected. "How did you even know how to make a molotov?!"

"Ki-chan, Tsu-kun!"

Hands clutched at their respective hearts at their mother's sudden reappearance. They jerkily turned in their seats to fix her with strained smiles. Akira more than wide awake.

"Y-yes mum?"

"Tanaka-san from next door said there's a huge sale down at the market right now." Nana didn't seem to notice their unusual behaviour. "Would it be a problem if I left you two to clean up?"

Both shook their heads vigorously.

"N-not at all!" Tsuna stammered.

"Go right ahead!" Akira added, gesturing shakily towards the door.

"Alright then! I'll be off!"

There was a chorus of all too eager goodbyes in return. Nana left with a bounce in her step. They were left suddenly feeling fifty years older.

"The internet. You have a lot of time on your hands when you have insomnia." Akira stated simply once she was sure she wouldn't be going into cardiac arrest. At her brother's look of disbelief, she blinked. "What? Don't believe me? Search it up, you find all sorts of tutorials on illegal things."

"Maybe you _should_ be in jail Aki-nee, looking at things like that in your spare time."

"Whelp. If you're not happy, then I am. Thank god they thought it was a gas leak." Akira said. "You know, I was worried one of the Nakai students would have dobbed us out."

"Not like you lost any sleep over it." he muttered, holding back a small laugh. He was almost proud of his little joke, until his sister callously messed his hair up. Tsuna yelped in dismay. "A-Aki-nee! I spent twenty minutes trying to make it tidy."

"Only people who've suffered insomnia get to make fun of insomniacs." she watched him fuss over his hair with yet another smug smile. Tsuna gave her the stink-eye. "Alright, alright, no more messing around. Wouldn't want you to be late for Disciplinary duties. Kyouya might hunt you down."

The brunet paled visibly.

"H-H-Hibari-san?"

Akira watched in confusion as her brother started sweating profusely, teeth chattering as he cowered in his seat. Sure she knew he was scared of the prefect, as was any sane person in Namimori, but his reaction was a bit drastic.

"Whoa, it's not as if I'm saying he's standing right behind you or anythin-"

"HIIEE!" Tsuna shrieked in terror, almost giving himself a whiplash with how fast he span around. Even when he found no sign of the said Disciplinary Chairman, his nerves remained on edge. "Ohnononono. I'm so dead!"

"What why?"

"What do mean why!? Hibari-san that's why!"

"Come on, he's not that bad." Akira waved off his concerns airily, "He only ever gets pissed off if you disrupt the peace of Namimori or do something stupid like destroy property- ah..."

The realisation hit and her expression grew blank, bleakly so. The brunette reached across the table to pat his shoulder, pity practically rolling off them in waves.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." she managed.

"Your face isn't the least reassuring!"

Akira ignored her brother's cry of despair, as well as the jibe at her face, opting to start clearing away in an attempt at a quick escape. Unfortunately for her, in Tsuna's life or death state of mind, he picked up on her intentions with frightening accuracy. He leapt with dexterity born from desperation and clung to her leg, effectively preventing his only chance at survival from fleeing.

"Aki-nee help me! You can't leave me to die!" he pleaded, by now his nose and eyes were running freely. His sister looked rather uncomfortable and tried shaking the bawling mess off her leg. Tsuna only held on tighter. "You caused all of this! Take responsibility for your actions!"

There was a lull in both words and actions, in which he felt hope rise. Perhaps there was still some humanity left in his sister, she wouldn't just leave him to die at hands of Namimori's resident tonfa-wielding dictator. She appraised him from over the dark circles and prominent eye bags. Tsuna waited. Akira always pulled through for him in the end-

"You make it sound like I'm the accidental father of your unborn child or something." she mused.

There was a silence. In which she continued on her way to the kitchen sink dragging her brother's speechless, uncomprehending form along behind them. Three soapy dishes in and Tsuna snapped. He stood and grabbed her shoulders so abruptly, Akira almost dropped the bowl she was holding.

"Akiraaaaaaaaaaaa!" he wailed, shaking her around with each second he dragged out her name.

Growing irritated, she batted at the offending hands.

"I already owe someone a favour, I can't owe Kyouya one too." Akira defended, irritation welling up and finally resolving herself to head butt him. It ended poorly with both crouched and cradling their foreheads. "One favour or none owed at all times is my policy."

"Policy?! Your only brother's life is at stake here!" he managed to accuse through the throbbing. Akira's response was to grab his armband from the counter and chuck it at him.

"You know if you're late you're only increasing your chances of being beaten."

A single glance at the clock and Tsuna knew she was right and he was screwed if he didn't leave.

"Hie! I have to go! But I don't want to die! But I have to go or I'll die!" Inches from the door, Tsuna almost tore his hair out at his dilemma. "I'm going to die anyway!"

With that resigned cry, Tsuna was out the door and running to school. Not even half way there and his no-good genes decided to act up, causing him to run headlong into a solid wall. He pinched his now sore nose, glowering up at the wall which had decided to plant itself in his path.

The wall glowered back with Sawamura's face.

It was then that Tsuna remembered he had forgotten to inform Akira that he preferred to be cremated upon death.

* * *

 _If you do get the sudden urge to maim my cute little brother today, please try to keep the bone breaking to the minimum._

A mere second later, there was a replying buzz.

 _Whether the herbivore is to be disciplined or not will depend on my mood, not by your request. Do not text me so casually during school hours._

Akira grimaced down at her phone screen, zipping up her bag with her free hand. It seemed that there was nothing much she could do for her brother. She did however, feel slightly bad about everything. Though she would never admit it to his face, the whole thing was kind of her fault. The brunette bowed their head solemnly and murmured a short prayer, before moving to pocket her phone. Only to stop when it started buzzing once more.

"Are you really calling about the favour already Red?" she picked up after a good moment's of delaying the inevitable. Akira slung her bag over her shoulder while the other took his time replying.

"So what do you want? And it better not have anything like what Koutarou asked for last time." the laughter on the other end had her scowling. "He's there is he? Tell him he wouldn't be laughing if he had been the one doing it."

The phone was quickly transferred to between her shoulder and head in order to tie her shoelaces.

"I'm not going all the way to the main hideout just to hear your stupid favour." she snorted at the idea. "Plus I have to go to a job today."

She could imagine the raised brows on the other end.

"Yeah it's supposed to help us with our future career choices." the door bell ringing had her missing the jibes of 'probably a debt collector with that face'. "Hold on, someone's at the door. You really think I'd tell you guys where I'm working?"

A twist of the door knob and Akira was greeted by a face full of orange.

"I've finally found you friend!"

She blinked very slowly and felt the bags under her eyes grow that much more prominent.

He might've lost the mohawk but she recognised that obnoxious colour anywhere. The most logical course of action to take was to of course casually swing the door back shut. She almost succeeded at a complication-free day, but alas, the complication decided sacrificing a foot wasn't much in the grand scheme of revenge for his fallen bike.

"Friend! Please!"

It must have travelled through the line because not a second later, she was being questioned as to what was happening.

"Just one of those door to door salesmen. He's really stubborn." Akira said, tone at odds with the forceful pushing of her back against the door. In the most jovial voice she could manage, she added. "I'm very sorry but I'm not looking for study materials right now!"

"I'm not here to sell you study materials!" came the slightly muffled protest, somehow the complication managed to stick half his head through the door to point at. The sight of his overly refreshing new faux hawk only served to make her a firmer barricade. "It's me! An-chan don't you remember?!"

"Piss off!" she flipped them the bird. "Exactly why I'm trying to close the door on you! You should not be anywhere near here! How the hell did you manage to find me?"

A sound of realisation followed by a certain redhead's laughter crackled against her ear. It was all the admittance she needed.

"RED!"

She was left with a dial tone and the relentless efforts of the complication outside. It wasn't until the shoving had the door pressing knocking painfully against the still brick-sore bruise on the back of her head that she decided giving up was the best course of action.

"Screw this." Akira said, stepping away from the door and taking what satisfaction she could when they fell forwards onto their face. "What do you want Carrot-top?"

Even with a slight nosebleed from the fall, he positively beamed. Coupled with his new hair, she had the sudden urge to kick him for looking so fresh when she was slowly deteriorating. It wasn't fair.

"You haven't forgotten me friend!" he exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and dusting off his immaculate white gakuran. "I thought you wouldn't have recognised me after I cleaned myself up a bit. New haircut and I've been massaging my face to relax the muscles there."

As confused as she was, Akira could see the results. His previously intimidating and ugly mug wasn't so intimidating nor ugly at all without the sneer. In fact, he could probably pass for a friendly convenience store clerk, the change was so drastic. Of course, this brewed more envious thoughts in Akira's mind. For insomnia's facelift couldn't change overnight.

"A bit? You're looking right fruity and fresh." she said dully, squinting when the sun caught his too bright hair. "Think I'm going to call you Fruit Pop from now on."

Alas, not even an insulting nickname could manage to revert him back to his sneering, scowling delinquent ways.

"Well I've already got a whole damn bunch of them nicknames already. So whatever suits you friend." a sincere smile without the lip piercing.

The brunette was starting to miss the days where the delinquents would shove her around a bit and go on their merry way. Without ever turning up at her doorstep with an invigorating new makeover.

"What are the other ones?"

"An-chan. Short for Andou."

A snort escaped her at the ridiculous nickname.

"Fruit Pop suits you better."

Akira had the strangest sense of déjà-vu when she said this, although when she tried to recall why, her head started hurting. Something to do with melon busting and hostages?

She quickly shook her head to compose herself, her signature sleep deprived scowl falling into place. The damn refreshing pheromones Fruit Pop emanated was lulling her into a false sense of amity. Most likely it was all part of his plan to catch her off-guard before exacting swift and brutal revenge.

"Alright, let's stop with the buttering and get to why you're really here. Let me just say that I regret nothing." Akira then scrunched her eyes up, braced herself for the beating in the doorway.

Looking like an idiot when the other didn't move an inch.

"What?" the former Nakai delinquent seemed genuinely bewildered.

"What?" Now Akira was too. Perhaps he was just a bit slow. "This is where you uh, beat me up Fruit Pop."

"Beat you up? Why would I want to do that friend?"

"Well, I remember the last time we spoke, it was on subject of blowing up your bike." She stated slowly, "And then my brother kicked you between the-"

"That's right!" he exclaimed, eyes narrowing in realisation. "You blew up my bike!"

At least he got there in the end. This time, Akira really braced herself, even going as far as to ready a fist in self-defence.

"That's why I came here to thank you in person!"

"Wait what?" Akira stared. Perhaps her sleep deprivation was affecting her more severely than she thought. She could've sworn she imagined that he was actually grateful. "Fruit Pop, I blew up your bike."

"Exactly!" The orange-haired teen seemed to perk up. "Sure, Mistress was, and will always be a treasured part of my life."

Akira mouthed 'Mistress' to herself, expression incredulous.

"And of course I was angry after my beautiful Mistress's untimely death. You know, our leader was so shocked over the loss of his bike, he resigned from his status." he choked up slightly, eyes misty at the memory. "But I realised, it was a fresh start, you know man? I remembered what you said, about how we were all hostages to the lives we lead, and I realised this could finally be the chance for me to be free!"

Through all the confusion as to exactly what was going on, she had to admit that the line about hostages sounded pretty cool. If only she could recall the moment.

"So I decided I would change myself and my ways! And already my life is better friend! Just last evening I finally got the job at the motorcycle dealers!"

"Good for you...?" Akira was still a bit thrown off, at the gratitude he was displaying. Shouldn't there be more kicking and punching involved in this process?

"Some things never change... but it's not just me! Kenji is aiming to be a doctor again!"

"Who?"

"Well I guess you wouldn't really remember him friend, it was before the brick incident. Black hair, slick-back and nose-piercing?"

Once again, the blurry memories of hostage situations and melon busting popped to the front of her mind. This time accompanied by a sobbing mess of a figure, vaguely matching his description. Someone of his stature looked wrong bawling their eyes out.

"Huh." Akira mused.

"Yeah, looks completely different now. But it's not just him, everyone who witnessed you taking me hostage has turned a new leaf!" he was clearly moved by the prospect, eyes practically shining with unshed tears. The brunette however, was more intent on something else.

"I took someone hostage?"

"To be precise, you took me hostage but after everything you've done, no hard feelings friend-"

"I'm _badass_." she emphasised, grinning and looking completely chuffed at the thought.

"Which is why..." the Nakai student ducked around the wall surrounding the Sawada property. "on behalf of the Nakai High school, I have something for you."

At this the brunette immediately returned to scowling and watching their back warily. Perhaps everything was indeed a ploy and now Fruit Pop was going to whip out a metal bat from around the corner and whoop her in the name of 'Mistress'. Or maybe he had a rusty pipe or-

Akira's immediately adopted a rather laughable fighting pose at the other's abrupt return.

Or maybe a sleek and spiffing bicycle.

"Here you go! This baby's all yours friend!" The way he caressed the seat shouldn't have been legal. It seemed the love for bikes extended to the non-motorised kind as well. "The bike shop was kind enough to give us discounts after the incident."

It also seemed that the fumes from the molotov explosion had stirred their long dormant, eco-conscious thoughts.

But damn, was that a nice set of wheels.

It was even the same shade as Fruit Pop's hair. Bright orange.

"We all chipped in to customise it! I got to do the paint-job!" Fruit Pop puffed his chest out proudly. It explained everything really. "It's your standard tour bike, foot pegs and detachable seat on the luggage carrier! Vintage look, but all modern fittings. Wheels are fit for off and on-road use, 26 inches..."

Akira quickly tuned out his technical ramblings out before her headache worsened. It was fortunate she did, because she noticed the impending danger looming just over his shoulder.

It was strange that there was enough time for at least fifty different expletives from four different dialects, mainly Kansai, to flash through her mind, but not enough for her to threaten Fruit Pop to keep his trap firmly shut.

"Ki-chan! Is this your friend?"

That welcoming yet terrifying smile could only belong to one.

"Isn't that uniform from the school on T.V?"

Her mother had decided to return at the most inopportune moment.

* * *

Tsuna stood-

Scratch that, Tsuna _quaked._ Barely managing to remain on his own two feet before the gakuran-clad teen him. Their regent hair-styles only added to the oppressive, piss-your-pants atmosphere with the way they shadowed their eyes. But he knew they were all glowering at him. Sawamura was no exception.

After his fate-sealing incident bumping into his senior, he was bodily dragged, kicking and screaming all the way to the deserted area around the back of Nami Middle.

Tsuna knew the place very well, many a time he had been cornered here and bullied by his peers. Once he had caught sight of his whole patrol group gathered around the very spot, Tsuna knew he might as well be six feet under by this point. No doubt, Hibari-san had been notified of his indiscretions and had sent Sawamura and the rest to express his disapproval.

"New guy."

It took every last shred of his dignity to not prostrate himself before Sawamura and start begging for his young life.

"I've misjudged you." Sawamura actually looked hurt at the prospect of his betrayal.

Stern nods of agreement from all around. There would be no lenience nor sympathy for Tsuna, naturally they were with their Great Leader. The moment Sawamura's hands landed roughly on his shoulders, his knees buckled. He quickly decided dignity was of no use to a dead body.

"You're actually-"

"HIEEE PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

"-a really trustworthy and cool guy, new guy...?"

Tsuna heard nothing and ploughed straight on.

"I HAD NO CHOICE I DIDN'T MEAN IT I JUST WANTED TO HELP." then he started full on blubbering. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE SAWAMURA-SENPAI!"

"New guy, please!"

Tsuna continued wailing away.

Sawamura wasn't too happy about the emotional mess in front of him, and neither were the others. So in one unanimous decision they all slapped him across the back in a chain reaction, effectively sending Tsuna tumbling face forward and putting an end to his rambling.

"We're not going to beat you up new guy!" Sawamura said, "Well, we kinda just did but that not the point!"

Tsuna was thoroughly confused.

"I think I can speak of all of the boys when I say that you've earned your place in the gang- I mean committee."

"R-really?" he tried his best to ignore their slip-up, no matter how questionable it was.

"That suicide charge of yours new guy! I never thought you had it in you!" Sawamura burst out in hearty laughter, which of course was accompanied with equally hearty slaps on the back. "Outnumbered twenty to one and you ran right in there like there weren't no tomorrow! I mean look at you!"

Sawamura clapped him on the shoulder.

"My first impression of you was that you were wimpy."

Slap.

"Scrawny."

Slap.

"A delicate flower that wouldn't last a day! Right boys?"

Slap. Slap.

"Hear hear!" was the resounding round of guffaws.

Tsuna hunched into himself, partly because of the slapping but mostly because of his battered pride.

"But now..." the teen stopped, "Well, you still kind of are. But you've sure got balls new guy! And we respect people with balls! Fit right in with the Committee you do!"

He didn't completely understand the whole situation, but somehow his gender had factored into him living. Just maybe his clothes will by some miracle be wearable and damage-free after this encounter.

"S-so I'm safe?" he asked tentatively.

"Of course new guy! It's just..." his senior trailed off, and the rest shifted uncomfortably. "Vice-Chairman doesn't see it the same way."

Tsuna took it all back. No pair of pants on his self would remain unsoiled today.

* * *

Akira was sat back at the dining table once more, beanie pulled slightly over her eyes while her mother got acquainted with her 'friend'.

"So An-chan right? I never knew Akira had a friend that went to Nakai High!"

"I actually only met Akira-san recently Nana-san." Fruit Pop smiled politely.

Nana smiled back just as courteously.

The brunette twitched noticeably at the influx of sparkles and flowers in the background when they did so.

"Really? How did you two become friends?"

Fruit Pop took a carefree sip of his tea.

"She helped me and my friends a lot actually! Blew up our bikes!"

If looks were weapons, the one she sent him was a nuclear bomb.

"Blew up?" Nana repeated, the full force of her smile was turned on the Akira. "Ki-chan?"

Akira kicked him in the shin for good measure.

For the sake of his other shin, and for the remaining years of his life, Fruit Pop caught on at the last moment.

"Blew up... our bike tyres! You know! Inflated them for us!" he blurted, smile back on his face after shooting a confused look at her. The refreshing pheromones were on full blast and for once, Akira found herself not minding at all. "Pumped the tyres right up, right friend?!"

She nodded all too whole-heartedly, unconsciously angling herself towards the doorway. The only escape route. Steps away, but so far out of reach. Never had such a cliché saying so accurately described a predicament before.

Her mother positively beamed.

"My! How considerate of you Ki-chan! Mama's so proud!"

Akira mercilessly quashed down any guilt threatening to well up for lying to her mother. It was all for the greater good. Nana was not always forgiving and accepting smiles, how she had reacted to the news segment on television spoke volumes. It often went unsaid that their mother had long been dubbed the most terrifying member of the household when it came down to it.

So she did the most acceptable thing. She smiled and nodded along with them both. Fortunately for her dwindling sanity, she didn't start exuding sparkles. But her mother had other ideas.

"But Ki-chan?" her mother paused in her ministrations of pouring herself a cup of tea. "You were at home around when the explosion occurred right?"

"Y-yeah?"

"And you were home for the rest of the time after that right?"

"Yeah..." warning bells started sounding.

"When did you find the time to go all the way to Nakai Highschool and help An-chan out?"

The calculating gleam in her eyes had the bells escalating to wailing sirens. The smile froze on her face. She discreetly looked towards Fruit Pop, searching for much needed help. It was to no avail, his pheromones were running on empty.

"Ki-chan?" Nana prompted, tone all too patient.

Akira felt the panic set in. Sweating bullets, another cliché that fit perfectly. No one should ever trust an insomniac to hold an intelligent conversation, let alone provide a believable lie.

Then it hit her like one of Hibari's tonfas.

She hastily cleared her throat, schooling her features as well as she could.

"I couldn't sleep." she interjected, moments before the silence stretched into suspicious territory. "So I went out for a walk, and happened to pass Nakai High on the way."

"They were still at school that late?"

Fruit Pop jumped in.

"We had to stay and explain the situation to the police ma'am! Then the media reporters came and it all became a hassle. Not to mention the bike shop owner who was so generous in donating us bikes came around too!"

Against all odds Akira found herself actually starting to overlook Fruit Pop's insulting new makeover.

Nana resumed pouring the tea once more.

"Well that explains everything then!"

Feeling as though she had passed a test by the skin of her teeth, Akira slumped in her seat.

"Would you like some more tea An-chan?"

"Yes please-"

"Nope!" she leapt up, and hauled him to his feet. Glowering fiercely when he tried to protest. "Fruit Pop has school remember? And I have work to get to!"

"I don't have school today-"

She slapped a hand across his mouth to prevent further damage. Thankfully her mother was preoccupied.

"That's right! It's Ki-chan's first day of work experience!" she exclaimed. "Let me go get my camera!"

"Get a move on!" she hissed, roughly shoving the teen towards the door. "While she's gone!"

"What? Uh, okay friend." he complied after a moment of hesitation, barely managing to kick on his shoes before he was forced out the door.

"Mum!" Akira called up the stairs. "I'm running late! I have to go!"

"Eh? But photos!" came the dejected reply.

"Next time! It's not like I haven't worked before."

"Thank you for your hospitality Nana-san!" Akira was met with a face full of sobbing ex-delinquent the moment she tried to turn and leave. "This whole family is too kind! I'll come visit again I swear!"

" _The hell you will_."

This time she walked him to his own bike and with a vicious kick, ensured he was well on his way. She still had a favour to owe after work, and already the morning was turning out to be something out of a sick movie. Yet after a brief thought she called after him.

"Thanks for the bike and all Fruit Pop!"

After receiving an all too enthusiastic and teary response of 'anytime friend!', she decided to head back inside. Her new form of transport could get her places faster, but suitable gear was needed.

In her hurried hunt for a comfortable pair of sneakers, her hand knocked over an object she had long forgotten existed.

On a whim, she grabbed it on her way out and slapped it on her head.

It was best if she was gone before her mother decided photos were indeed necessary.

* * *

He had never been in the Vice Chairman's part of the room before. And with what Kusakabe was usually responsible for dealing with, he never particularly wanted to be.

"Sawada-san. It has been brought to my attention that you had a hand in the explosion that occurred on Nakai grounds yesterday."

He knows. He knows. He knows.

The seat he had been so graciously offered, suddenly felt like his final resting place. Anytime now, ten thousand volts of lethal electricity would be channelled through his body via the chair. The Vice Chairman noticed nothing of his spiralling thoughts and continued sternly.

"As a member of the Disciplinary Committee, you should be well aware that unnecessary destruction of property is frowned upon."

Tsuna stifled a bout of manic laughter. Frowned upon was such a nice phrase to substitute for punished with the death penalty.

"Especially so if the news were to be relayed to our Chairman." Kusakabe stared the brunet down sternly. "And this is a damage of a newsworthy scale."

As if a physical beating wasn't enough, it seemed that a mental beating was required too. He really didn't need the cruel reminders. He was already so resigned to his fate, it wasn't funny. Why delay the inevitable?

"However, your patrol group said otherwise. Vehemently so."

Tsuna jerked in his seat.

"S-Sawamura-san?"

"Hideo-san and his group yes."

He wasn't aware Sawamura even had a first name. Tsuna quickly dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. Throwing it into his mental bin with the rest of the idiotic ideas his mind had the tendency to spawn. There were much more important matters at stake here.

"They told me that you saved them from a situation in which they were outnumbered and helped greatly in defeating the enemy gang-" he coughed abruptly. " _school_ back."

Once again Tsuna found himself ignoring a rather questionable slip up in order to save his own hide.

"Not to mention, your little explosion stunt did help send a _very_ clear message."

He could only bob his head.

"So I've decided, this matter doesn't necessarily need to be reported to the Chairman." Kusakabe concluded, chewing lightly on his piece of straw.

Tsuna felt like crying.

"But... this is of course not without its consequences."

Of course.

"No matter how much Hideo-san protests, I cannot change this decision."

Of course.

"You will be removed from direct action patrol duty."

Of- what?

"We cannot risk another incident like yesterday's potentially damaging our reputation. So instead you'll be on the sidelines as the DC's log keeper. You'll record all the activities our committee takes part in. It won't be much different from other clubs." the Vice Chairman paused, looking completely sincere in his next words. "I am sorry for your loss."

Loss of what? Tsuna was practically over the moon. Not only did he get to escape death by tonfa, he was also being transferred into a much less dangerous role in the committee. For once in his life, Lady Luck was finally taking pity on him.

The brunet met the other's gaze with a smile that rivalled his mother's.

"Of course!"

If not for the sake of his dignity, which mind you, he could now afford to spare, he would've skipped out of that door. Upon exiting, he was immediately swarmed by Sawamura and the rest.

"How'd it go, new guy? Did Vice Chairman still insist on sticking you with boring record duties?"

One look at their wholehearted concern, had him feeling bad about acting so jovial. Tsuna rubbed at his neck, taking his time to look at each of the faces around him. Every one of them had gone out of their way to get him out of trouble, he shouldn't act so happy to be leaving them.

So he repressed the urge to start celebrating and merely smiled regretfully at them.

"Y-yeah, I'm sorry Sawamura-san."

A depressing silence hung over the group. Tsuna flailed his arms.

"It's not like I won't see you guys again! I'm still in the committee!" he frantically reassured.

The effect was instant. But then again, not quite the one he was hoping for.

"You're right, new guy!"

Sawamura slung an arm across his shoulders and Tsuna was subjected to the heartiest session of back-slapping and arm-punching yet.

"We can just sneak you into our patrols anyway!" Sawamura boomed.

Tsuna froze.

"So what are we waiting for, boys?! Patrol time!"

As he was swept up in a jiffy by the stampede known as his patrol group, Tsuna couldn't even bring himself to struggle.

 _Of course._

* * *

"What's up with your face l'il boss?"

A pause.

"Actually, what's on your head?"

All he received was a unintelligible garble of slurred speech and annoyed groans. As well as a weak attempt at flipping him off, but he chose to ignore the last. Koutarou popped his lollipop casually, squatting to examine the teen sprawled across the stone steps of their base. He blinked slowly, content to silently laugh at her suffering for a good long minute.

"Should I call Natsumi?"

Another garble. Accompanied by a strong shake of her head.

"Oi Natsumi! Li'l Boss is here and she looks like she's dying!"

There was a croaky mutter of 'traitor', before their technician all but ran bulldozed down the sliding screen doors in her haste to get to her beloved-

"AKIRA-DEAR!" Natsumi swept in with a gusto, gathering the fallen brunette in her arms and started aggressively mothering them. Akira was frantically jostled and patted down, which only further aggravated already bruised and sore areas. All the while the teen could only slur and garble away in unheard protests. "What happened?! Who did this to you?! What is that _thing_ on your head?!"

Once finally Akira finally managed to recover her wits enough to speak coherently and pry Natsumi's suffocating grip off her, she addressed the immediate problem.

"It's a hard hat. With a light. Is it that hard to see? Even my co-workers asked the same question."

"Why are you wearing it Akira-chan?" the amber haired technician asked delicately. Akira stared.

"Why not?"

"You look ridiculous li'l boss. Stick to the beanie." Koutarou drawled helpfully.

The tips of her ears turned red.

"I thought it looked pretty cool. Plus, I couldn't find a bike helmet." she mumbled. "And don't call me that."

Natsumi promptly started cooing at the brunette. The way a one would when consoling a pissy child.

"It's bright yellow, you look like a dork."

Natsumi kicked the white-haired offender.

"Shuddup." Akira kicked him as well. "This hat you're all dissing, saved me from getting my head kicked in while getting here."

"You got beat up trying to get here again?" Koutarou raised a brow, while casually restraining Natsumi from storming out of the compound and committing murder. "I thought giving you that identification plaque fixed that already. I mean it had our crest on it and everything."

"Gave it to my brother."

The lollipop hung limply from his mouth.

"That badge identified you as an honorary member of Momokyokai. We only have a total of three. You gave it away just like that?"

She shrugged.

"Never wanted to be associated with the Momokyokai anyway. I wouldn't even be here if not for the fact I owe Red a favour." at this Akira, craned her neck to peer past the sliding doors. "Where is he anyway?"

"Dunno."

"The bastard comes and goes."

"What got you in such a shitty mood today li'l boss?" Koutarou asked. "I heard you cussing the front gates for blocking your path."

"A stalker turned up at my door in the morning."

He reflexively looked towards Natsumi.

"I swear it wasn't me this time!" she denied, having the decency to look a bit embarrassed.

"It was a student from Nakai."

Koutarou grinned knowingly.

"Right, heard all about that from Sei."

"Yeah, so it was a student from Nakai and-"

"Hey, the bastard's here." Natsumi squinted incredulously. "I think he's kidnapped a middle-schooler."

Necks immediately craned to verify the claim.

"No kidding." Koutarou zeroed in on the redhead. "He's got a Nakai student with him too!"

Akira quickly swore that if she caught so much as a glimpse of orange, Fruit Pop would be Fruit Pulp once she was done. Luckily the teen sported no refreshing hairstyle, only a slick-back.

"Akira! Good you're here- shit what the hell's on your head?"

She wisely ignored him.

"Red-" Akira waved an arm towards his followers, but found no words to describe what she was feeling. "What is this?"

Seiji merely grinned broadly, slinging an arm around the Nakai student.

"You remember Slick-back don't you? He's aiming to be a doctor again."

"Vaguely, sadly, unfortunately, yes." Akira felt the overwhelming fatigue already.

"Hello, friend."

She wanted to groan at the all too familiar form of address.

"We've never introduced have we? Mochida Kenji." he stuck out a hand, which she shook. "This is my brother Kensuke."

The younger teen beside him scowled at her and Akira twitched. The boy was practically radiating the smug vibes. It only made her feel that much more done.

"Red."

"Hm?"

"I've had a pretty bad day."

"Really?"

"I just want to go home."

"Mhm."

"Please just tell me what the favour is."

If there had been some sort of ranking list to rank Seiji's grins from zero to eat shit, the one on his face encompassed not only human faeces, but the faeces of every single organism that possessed an excretory system.

"This is the favour Akira."

She glanced at the Nakai student shooting not so discreet adoring and hopeful looks, then to the smug asshole of a middle schooler he called brother.

And resigned herself to the fact that she had landed herself in some sort of fresh hell.

* * *

 _Akira is calling._

Beep.

"Aki-nee?"

 _"Tsuna?"_ There was a weary exhale. _"I've just had the shittiest day."_

The brunet looked up when the unconscious body of an unfortunate third year went whizzing over his head. Sawamura grinned and waved happily from where he and the boys were whaling away on the rule-breakers.

Tsuna matched her sigh.

"Tell me about it."

 **A/N Here's Chapter 6! Finally right? Sorry again guys, but at least I made the deadline! :D**

 **Like always, thanks for reading this chapter and all those FFRs. YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE.**


	9. Chapter 7: Reminiscence VII

**Chapter 7**

Family time is nice and all but if you're looking to take some time off and relax, familytime is the worst idea ever. I mean do you not already live under the same roof as them daily? Can that ever be called relaxing?

* * *

 _Remember when you decided we needed a 'break'?_

Tsuna scuffed his shoe against the concrete, and gingerly leaned back against the gates with a sigh. Sawamura had finally left him alone and with a still stinging back. His phone read nineteen minutes past five and the school grounds were deserted save for the few DC members. They nodded towards him as they passed. He waved meekly back with a smile that hid how badly he wanted to go home.

Not moments after, the bad imitation of a train tooting had him looking up.

"The Akira Express has arrived at Nami-Middle."

Slumped over the handlebars of an orange bicycle, his sister greeted him with a mock salute. Tsuna couldn't help the tired snicker. Dishevelled and weary, they had both seen better days.

Akira stuck out her hand.

"Fare please."

"How much?" Tsuna decided that indulging a bit of childish antics was necessary after a week like his.

"2000 yen."

He choked, and his sister grinned.

"What kind of miracle transport is this?"

"If you don't have the money..." she trailed off, placing one foot back on the pedal in emphasis. The brunet huffed, dug a hand into his pockets and produced a single hundred-yen coin.

"I only have this much on me." he said. Tsuna didn't feel up to a lonely walk home.

"Actually? Sweet-" Akira coughed abruptly, trying to mask her pleased smirk. She pocketed the coin. "I mean, hop on aboard sir."

He did so, balancing precariously on one foot peg before settling onto the luggage carrier.

"O-okay, I'm on."

"All aboard! Next stop, Sawada Residence." she called blandly, hand cupping her mouth like a speaker. Tsuna almost cringed out of embarrassment when a passer-by turned to stare. Akira kicked off the ground and they were on their way. Not even ten meters from his school and he found himself unable to keep quiet any longer.

"Hey Akira-nee?"

"What's up?" she manoeuvred to overtake a too slow pedestrian, tilting her head slightly backwards to let him know she was listening.

"What are you wearing on your head?"

Tsuna shrieked and held on for dear life when the bike screeched and bucked to a stop. When he was sure he wasn't going to be thrown head over heels, he loosened his grip on his seat to peer warily at his sister.

Elbows hanging limply off the handlebars and forehead dropped onto the back of her hands. Akira looked as defeated as someone who'd just stepped into the ring with Nami-Middle's notorious boxing club captain.

"A-Akira-nee?"

A bone-weary exhale.

"Tsuna..." she let the slightest of whining seep into her tone. "Your big sister has had a bad day, and the worst of it started with that question."

Even then, the unwanted memories of the afternoon began assaulting her.

* * *

"This _is_ the favour Akira."

She glanced at the Nakai student shooting not so discreet adoring and hopeful looks, then to the smug asshole of a middle schooler he called brother.

And resigned herself to the fact that she had landed herself in some sort of fresh hell. The look she gave him next seemed to border between wanting him to explain and wishing he would suddenly choke on his own saliva and somehow lose his voice permanently. Sanity was always short lived whenever the redhead opened his mouth.

She didn't know what to feel when the Nakai student spoke up instead.

"Friend, I came here to thank you."

Sanity was always short lived.

"Y'know, for everything you've done. For waking me up y'know?"

Akira really didn't. She didn't understand why she was being thanked. All she did was blow up their bikes. And she clearly remembered the look on their faces when she did. This Kenji should be glaring daggers like his brother was doing over his shoulder.

"What have I done to do deserve this?"

"What haven't you done?" the Nakai student immediately piped up. Out of the corner of her eye, Akira caught Seiji stifling a laugh. "You've put me back on the right path again friend! You've reformed our school!"

Now Akira was severely doubting he actually had the right person. Koutarou sauntered over to join the fray.

"Aren't you the little goody-two-shoes li'l boss?"

He could've been mistaken for Seiji's twin the way he was grinning.

"That's why I thought that you're the only one that could help Kensuke!" Slick-back pulled his brother in front and Akira was treated to a close up of that spectacular sneer.

"I wasn't the greatest role model to my baby brother, I'm afraid that I might've rubbed off on him slightly."

"Why the fuck are we hanging out with these losers." the middle-schooler demanded.

Koutarou arched a brow. Seiji grinned wider. Akira stared blankly.

" _Slightly._ " They echoed.

"And I wanted to fix that. Tachibana-san told me that you could help! Something about having Kensuke hanging around the right crowd!"

If Akira had ever wondered if delinquents could pull off puppy eyes, she knew now. She turned the force of her uncomprehending stare on the root of the whole problem. Seiji grinned back.

"Oh you know me Akira! I'm just naturally a good person."

"Give me a moment."

"Of course friend!"

Akira ushered the redhead out of earshot.

"Red, the last time I checked, this was a criminal organisation, not a behaviour correction centre." she reminded dully.

"Of course, friend!" Seiji chirped, earning himself an unimpressed glower. He wisely smartened up. "In all seriousness though Akira. This is a great opportunity. We're getting ourselves a recruit and you an apprentice. Shit, it's like that saying, two birds with one stone."

"We're not recruiting a middle-schooler into the Yakuza, Red. He's a kid."

"You were younger when you got involved. You and that scary kid." Seiji shrugged nonchalantly. At the adamant look he was given, he grinned. "Shit, I was just messing with you. We're not that desperate for recruits Akira."

"And the apprentice thing?" she inquired, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders.

"Oh I meant that. You're going to have to take care of that shitty brat."

Akira felt the bags under her eyes grow significantly heavier.

"What have I got to pass on to him Red? My bad luck?"

"I love it when you owe me favours." he crowed. "It's hilarious making your life shittier than it already is."

"Goddammit."

"You know the thing about favours. Especially with the Yakuza."

"Yeah. Yeah." she grumbled, spinning on her heel to go and tell Slick-back the 'good news'.

"Akira." he called, stopping the brunette in her tracks. She turned slightly to look at him, blinking when she found no grin for once. "We might not be desperate now, but we've been without a leader for quite a while. Certain people are going to pick up on that sooner than you think you know."

Akira said nothing. The weight settled back on her shoulders.

* * *

"Sorry, I just wanted to know why you were wearing it. "It's uhh..."

Akira sighed, kicking off and resuming pedalling once more. Albeit at a rather lethargic pace compared to before.

"No need to hold back, Tsuna. People have been telling me about my bad fashion sense all day. Have a go at it."

"Huh? No, I think it's pretty cool." Tsuna reassured. She brightened noticeably, at least to him. Her ears did that slight wiggle.

"Isn't it?" the brunette huffed, reaching up and rapping the sturdy plastic with her knuckles. "I thought it was pretty cool too."

"Yeah but isn't it _his_?"

Akira hid a grin at his blatant avoidance of addressing their father as such. It was a sore topic for both of them, and the only real grudge Tsuna held. She knew it wasn't healthy, not after six good years of it. So she played dumb.

"Who?"

His reluctance was palpable.

"Our _father's_."

"Well it's mine now. If he wants it back, he'll have to come get it." she said simply. "I don't have a bike helmet. Plus, it looks better on me anyway."

She didn't have to look back to know he was amused. She felt the shifting of weight behind her. He was doing that hunching thing in his seat.

"I guess so." he allowed.

Akira scoffed jokingly.

"I know so." and after long while of simply pedalling in silence, she spoke up. "You happy for a break tomorrow? Weekend and all. I know I'm up for forgetting today ever happened."

"I've been waiting all week Aki-nee." he sighed dramatically, already dreaming of the sleeping in he would be getting up to.

* * *

The door slammed open.

"Break time!"

It funny how the meaning changed overnight. The curtains were ripped open- and god there wasn't even sunlight to blind him with, yet somehow his eyes still managed to burn. Shrieking bloody murder into his down-stuffed, morning shield, he caught glimpse of that accursed and familiar grin. Spitefully chipper, the clash with the eye bags only a reminder, that it all was in the name of making him miserable. He knew his hopes and dreams were dashed.

Especially his dreams.

"Good morning brother dearest!" she chirped.

His only response was a garbled, muffled and frankly terrified wail that sounded vaguely like 'there's no sun!'. Akira brutally ripped the covers from him, dragging him kicking and screaming with his pillow still clutched dearly over his face.

"C'mon! We can't waste away such a beautiful morning. Mum's already awake!"

"It's not even dawn! What beautiful morning?!" at her all-too jovial laughter, he wailed. "My sleep!"

"If I can survive a week without sleep you can survive one morning." she dismissed easily.

"Have you looked in the mirror?!"

"Of course. When I brushed my teeth. Which reminds me..." Akira shot her brother a genuinely confused look. "Why aren't you dressed and ready?"

By then Tsuna had given up trying to make sense of his sister. When she got like this, there was no stopping her. Especially not when his mother was right behind her waiting as the ultimate back-up.

"What are we even doing?"

"Fishing for breakfast."

He stared.

"I don't have the energy to deal with this" the brunet groaned. "Not after yesterday."

"C'mon, indulge your poor sister once in a while." she pulled the 'look' on him. "Have a little fun with me! And I don't want to remember yesterday, so leave yesterday with yesterday."

"In what day and age do people fish for breakfast anymo- HIEE!"

Akira grabbed the back of his shirt just before he tumbled head over heels down the stairs. It was always the third stair from the top.

"Fish is good for the brain Tsuna. Especially fresh ones." Akira adopted a what she called her wise voice. She ushered him into the bathroom and closed the door with a parting jibe. "I heard it cures clumsiness too."

A fresh change of clothes, minty breath and a whole trip of grumbling later, Tsuna was well into his twentieth minute sitting on the river bank behind Namimori Shrine, gripping an old fishing rod. The sun barely peeked over the tree tops, and the frigid autumn air bit at his exposed fingers. One whiff of that cold breeze had his nostrils abruptly flaring.

"FWATCHOO!"

Great. There went all the fish in his area. The elderly man from across the river shot him a nasty look. And apparently all the fish in their area too. He rubbed his nose and shivered, both from the cold and the glare.

"Someone talking about you Tsuna?" Akira's voice wafted from the picnic area towards the bank. "An admirer perhaps?"

His resulting blush warmed him right back up.

"N-No!" he denied vehemently, almost losing his grip on the fishing pole in the process.

"Catch anything then?"

"No." he sighed tiredly. "This is why no one fishes anymore. There's nothing in the river."

"Now, now brother dearest. Patience is key to fishing." a moment later, something fell into his lap and his sister's amused mug peered down over him. "And bait is too."

It was an unopened box of bread pieces. Embarrassment was apparently a great remedy for the cold. Tsuna hastily reeled in the very bait-bare line and hook with rapidly reddening ears.

"W-Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he muttered, but Akira had already left him to set up the open-flame grill with their mother with a parting snigger.

So he resigned himself to at least another twenty minutes of bum-numbing sitting. At least he had the view to enjoy. He scrunched the carpet of oranges, reds and yellows under his foot. The trees around the shrine were always the best for autumn viewing. He entertained himself with the leaves for a while, until he was once again, well into his twentieth minute. The chill was getting to him again.

If only he could utilise blushing by will. Tsuna watched his breath condense in front of him, followed by the rumbling of his stomach. Really, no sane person would fish for breakfast.

"Sawada-san?"

He instinctively jerked up, eyes wide with disbelief. Because he swore that voice belonged to-

"S-S-S-S-Sasagawa-san!?" He cursed his stutter. Way to look cool in front of your crush. But one look at the honey-haired girl had him turning into an incoherent, flustered mess. He immediately scrambled to his feet to return the bow. Forgotten was his assigned duty to fish for breakfast.

"I never thought I would bump into you here." she said with a _smile._ At _him._ "It's rather early after all."

Cold? What was cold?

"M-m-me n-neither!" he managed to get out. Thinking his attempt at conversation lame, he scrambled to add. "So why are you-"

"What are you-" she started as well. They both broke off, her with slightly surprised eyes and him with a furious blush that was taking on qualities of mortified. He had just cut his crush off. Nami-middle's idol.

Surely, somehow, that was bad luck.

"Y-y-you first!"

"No you can go." she smiled again.

"N-n-no." he flailed his arms awkwardly for her to continue. The honey-haired teen laughed.

Tsuna melted.

"I was going to ask what you were doing here."

It took a moment for him to realise she had said something. Then he panicked at her expectant look.

"F-FISHING!" Tsuna all but shouted in his haste to reply. It was only further embarrassment. He cleared his throat to cover his slip. "Fishing for breakfast."

"Fishing?"

"Y-yeah. It's lame righ-"

"That's wonderful!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together in joy. Tsuna almost bit his tongue with how fast he cut himself off. "I thought we were the only ones who fish for breakfast anymore! I know a lot of people find it a strange thing to do in this day and age."

"O-of course it's not strange!" he practically leapt to reassure her. "F-fresh fish is good for the brain! I-I like fishing!"

"Really? You think so?" his classmate beamed. He nodded eagerly.

Thank you Akira.

"Tsuna?"

He froze. Not the time Akira. Please go away Akira. Please don't tell me you heard me.

But one look at that wolfish grin, and that sauntering, he knew she had heard everything. He cursed the arm that was slung casually over his shoulder.

"Who's this? Your girlfr-"

"CLASSMATE." he exclaimed adamantly, slamming a lid down on the situation before she could blow it all out of proportion. Tsuna shot a pleading look towards his sister before turning to the honey-haired teen with an awkward smile that turned out more of a grimace. "T-this is my sister, Akira. And this is my _classmate_ Sasagawa Kyoko."

"It's nice to meet you Sawada-san."

Akira returned the bow.

"Uh, just call me Akira, we're all Sawada here it'll get confusing." shooting a knowing look towards her brother, she added. "And I'm sure Tsuna would like it if you called him by his first name as well."

He wasn't sure whether he wanted to cry or laugh.

"Only if you call me by my first name then Akira-san, Tsuna-kun!"

Probably die of happiness and excessive blushing. He felt Akira nudge him in the ribs.

"Aren't you happy Tsuna? A pretty _classmate_ just called you by your first name." the implications behind 'classmate' were only emphasised by her wink.

He physically shrank into himself. If his No-Good tendencies decided to kick in and have him trip into the river, he was sure the water would evaporate merely upon contact.

"So why are you here Kyoko-chan?"

"My big brother suddenly decided to take up fishing, and he insisted that we went fishing early this morning."

The brunette suppressed a laugh.

"What a coincidence." Akira mused. "My brother was also very eager to go fishing before dawn. Right Tsuna?"

"R-right." He squeaked, shrinking further when the weight of both their gazes settled on him.

"You must be very good at it then! When I left my brother, he wasn't doing very well." Kyoko said brightly.

"N-n-no! I'm not-!"

"He's just being modest." Akira slapped him across the back and Tsuna had a horrible moment of feeling like he was with his D.C patrol again. "He's got all sorts of fishing tricks up his sleeve."

He shoved both his hands deep into his trouser pockets. Silently wishing he had a beanie or the hardhat Akira still insisted on wearing to pull over his eyes. His sister didn't miss the action, partly because his habits of hiding his embarrassment weren't very subtle, but mostly because there was a nagging feeling that something was very wrong about it. Her eyebrows drew together. If both his hands were in his pockets, then where was-

"Tsuna where's the fishing rod?"

His face went from scarlet to white in a matter of seconds.

"Uh-"

All three heads whipped around towards his previous spot by the river. Just in time to catch the forgotten piece of equipment dip beneath the water. Mouths parted in perfect o's as they watched the brightly coloured bobber mark the fishing rod's journey of no return down the river. He caught the man on the opposite bank shaking his head in disapproval.

"Huh." Akira's eyebrows rose. "Was that one of your fishing tricks Tsuna?"

"...no."

There was a short silence.

"The fishing rod was dad's, by the way." his sister commented casually with an expectant glance out of the corner of her eye.

Tsuna suddenly looked considerably more pleased about the whole incident.

Akira chortled, bumping his shoulder in amusement. Kyoko on the other hand, was still quite focused on something in the river. His classmate turned to them with a curious smile.

"Is that fishing trick very popular Tsuna-kun?"

The returning blush of mortification hit him hard and fast, eyes threatening to water from the possibility of coming off as lame in front of her. Until he realised she wasn't quite making fun of him. He dared to raise his head back up to follow her finger back towards the river.

A fishing rod that wasn't his being washed down the bend. Bobber disappearing around the corner in a similar fashion to its predecessor.

"Yes, it takes great _skill_ to execute successfully Kyoko-chan." Akira mused. "I'm surprised there's someone out there that could match his calibre."

"I see!"

Tsuna discreetly elbowed her in the ribs. She doubled over slightly but sadly the grin didn't leave her face.

"Tsu-kun! Ki-chan! Have you caught any fish yet?"

The call was inevitable, but having his long-time crush hear his little nickname had him cringing irrationally.

"Do you want the honours or shall I?"

Tsuna opened his mouth to whole-heartedly volunteer, only to find to his dismay, his sister was already eagerly strolling over to their waiting mother.

"Akira-!" he sprang after her, because there was a feeling of dread that she was going to tailor the whole situation to her liking. And knowing his mother she would be right on board with anything she said.

"Tsuna dropped the fishing rod into the river trying to impress a lady friend with a cool trick."

He felt utterly betrayed. Barely suppressing the desire to scream 'how could you?!' at that gleeful twinkle in her eye.

"Oh my, is that so?" Nana giggled behind her hand. The looks they both shot him had his face burning to point he was certain he was losing feeling in the tips of his ears.

He desperately whipped around to find Kyoko, praying that she heard nothing. Visibly sagging in relief when he found her trailing a good length away, looking innocently oblivious to the situation. As she approached their happy gathering however, his mother decided to leap to action.

"Is this your lady friend Tsu-kun?" she beamed. "She's very pretty. My little boy has a good eye on him!"

"M-Mum!"

Akira started low-key cackling in the background.

"Are you Tsuna-kun's mother?" at the confirmation, Kyoko also beamed. "It's very nice to meet you Sawada-san, I'm is Sasagawa Kyoko, Tsuna-kun's classmate."

"Such a polite girl too! On first name basis with my Tsu-kun? Mama's so proud!" she grasped the honey-haired teen's hands warmly. "Call me Nana dear, or Mama, I don't mind!"

"MUM!"

The cackling wasn't quite so low-key anymore.

" ** _EXTREME!_** "

They all jumped and turned at the deafening boom. Tsuna squinted into the distance.

Something. No someone was hurtling towards them with a borderline manic, intense gleam in their eyes. An impressive stream of water trailing from their thoroughly drenched clothes. No sane person would wear a t-shirt and shorts in this weather.

"Should we run?" Akira suggested, looking very unsure about the situation. Tsuna was about to agree, until Kyoko made sense of everything.

"Big brother!"

The Sawada family glanced from the soft-spoken honey-haired teen to the grey-haired Hurricane Sasagawa. Well, maybe not everything.

"Kyoko! Have you found a seat yet?!"

Tsuna was still mouthing 'big brother' uncomprehendingly.

"No, but I met a classmate and his family also out fishing. Isn't that great?"

"That is very extreme of them!" he agreed heartily. The water continued to drip as he bent into a perfect ninety bow and back. "Extremely nice to meet you! I'm Sasagawa Ryohei!"

All three returned the gesture and introduction, matching everything but his fervour.

"Join my boxing club!" he roared, flinging his arms up passionately and showering the slightly dazed audience with stray water.

"Big brother!"

Tsuna's cheeks tinged pink, even when Kyoko was disapproving, she was cute. He glared however, when he caught Akira pretending to coo at him.

"I've told you that you can't just force people into things!" she admonished. "Why are your clothes all wet?"

"I decided that extreme men didn't need a fishing rod to catch fish!" the grey-haired teen placed his fist on his hips, puffed out his chest and grinned proudly. "So I threw the fishing rod away and started extremely fishing with my bare hands!"

"That takes quite some skill to do doesn't it Ryohei-kun?" Nana asked, and both Tsuna and Akira swore she was very discreetly referring to his questionable actions of discarding his fishing rod, and not the actual fishing. But then again, it was their mother, it was very unlikely.

But not impossible. Discreet and passive-aggressive jibes were a Sawada specialty. One that had to come from somewhere.

"Of course!" Ryohei puffed air through his nostrils.

"How many have you managed to catch?"

"ZERO." strangely, his proud posturing didn't falter in the least at his statement.

Akira started lapsing into cackles again.

"Which is why I decided to extremely change spots!"

"Is that why you threw your fishing rod away too Tsuna-kun?" the honey-haired teen's sincere question snapped him out of his incredulous gaping.

"Huh? Uh..."

"WHAT?!"

Tsuna nearly leapt out of his skin, taking three steps back when the grey-haired boxer whipped around to stare him down.

"It seems I've met my extreme match!" he proclaimed. "I won't lose to you Sawada!"

With another bellow of his catch-phrase, Ryohei stormed off into the river. Sending waves of water in every direction. Tsuna shivered just from watching him. It was mid-autumn, the water probably wasn't nice and warm. The fisherman on the opposite bank sprang to his feet in all his balding, missing-toothed rage.

"You damn whippersnapper! You've gone and scared all the damn fish away!"

They then proceeded to sweep up all their gear and equipment up in a flourish, stalking off while shaking their fist at the boxer. Ryohei was unsurprisingly unfazed.

"What are you doing Sawada?! Someone has just graciously given up their spot for you! Don't waste their extreme goodwill! If you don't come now, I'll catch all the fish!" he roared.

Tsuna desperately glanced around for help, but his mother was happily chatting away with Kyoko and his sister was busy channelling her inner hyena.

"Where are all the extreme fish?!"

He jumped at the sound of something akin to exploding behind him. His crush's brother had started punching the water in some sort of terrifying tantrum.

"This is extremely FRUSTRATING!"

A choking noise behind him had him jumping to find the source again. Apparently Akira had regained enough sanity to realise the situation was quickly losing its humour. He let himself be pulled down to where she was bent over, clutching at her sides.

"My god. He's going to destroy the whole ecosystem Tsuna." She guffawed, more out of disbelief than mirth. "You should stop him."

"EXTREME STRAIGHT!"

Another explosion of river water. How Kyoko nor his mother seemed not to notice he did not know. He swore he felt the ground trembling from the ridiculous force of it all.

"HOW?!"

"In the cooler. There's fish we bought from the market beforehand. As a backup plan you know."

"So it wasn't even necessary for me to sit for an hour?!"

"It's the experience that matters Tsuna." she said wisely. "Now pretend you caught them or something- my god! Quickly! I think he's trying to upturn the damn river!"

"EXTREME RUSH!"

Her hardhat was pressed into his hands.

"You'll need this more than me." she gave him a slightly pitying smile. But he knew she was just glad it wasn't her who was stepping into the deep end.

Tsuna wept and slapped the hat on his head. He flung the cooler at his feet, spilling the contents across the river bank and snatching one of the many fish by the tail. Allowing only a second to grimace at the slimy feel, he threw what self-preservation he had to wind and stepped into the river, where the boxer was viciously churning the water like a boat motor.

"HIE! I CAUGHT SOME! LOOK!" He raised the limply flopping fish over his head with both hands. Kneeling akin to a humble mortal before a rampaging river god, a desperate peace offering to appease their extreme ire.

Tsuna sagged in relief when by some miracle, the boxer actually stopped.

"WHAT?" The fury and passion turned on him and he abruptly found himself wishing he hadn't cared so much for the ecosystem. Grey eyes still alight with a crazed intensity raked across the bank, taking in the scattered fish before searing into the fish in the brunet's hands. "I've been extremely defeated?!"

"Uh y-yes?"

At the intimidating step taken towards him, he backtracked.

"M-m-maybe not?!" he laughed hysterically when they continued to advance towards him. "D-definitely not."

And backtracked.

And backtracked.

Two hands clapped down onto his shoulders. The fish flopped out of his and pathetically into the river.

"TELL ME YOUR EXTREME TRICKS SAWADA!" he demanded. "I MUST REDEEM MYSELF."

"HIEEE-"

"Wow! You caught all of these Tsuna-kun? It's enough to feed all of us isn't it big brother?"

Kyoko is and forever will be, his angel. It was the explanation for the halo of holy light enveloping her.

"Kyoko! I must-" Ryohei started profoundly.

"Isn't _it_ , big brother?" One smile tinged with sharpness was all it took.

Tsuna's heart skipped a beat when the grey-haired teen immediately deflated. A reliable angel. Albeit just the slightest bit scary at the moment.

"A-alright." even the mighty river god was shaken. He good-naturedly hauled the brunet out of the water with ease. Enthusiasm returning the moment both feet were back on the bank. Ryohei grunted approvingly at fish he'd 'caught' with crossed arms. "I'll have to admit Sawada. You're a pretty extreme guy."

"T-thanks?" Truthfully the compliment didn't do much to soothe his still rattled nerves.

By then Akira had recovered enough to start gathering the strewn fish back into the cooler with the calmest face she'd managed the whole day. The sporadic twitching at the corner of her mouth gave everything away. Kyoko and his mother stepped in to speed up the process, and Tsuna felt obliged to do so as well.

"I never knew there were so many fish in this river. You're amazing Tsuna-kun!" the honey-haired teen commented, picking up one with curious eyes. Tsuna shuffled his feet with a quietly pleased smile. One that dropped when he caught Akira and his mother shooting him a thumbs up over her shoulder.

"These fish, aren't they saury?"

Luckily, it was the one fish Tsuna actually knew of. He eagerly confirmed it.

"Y-yeah. Fits in with the whole autumn thing.*"

His mother stilled. Akira tensed. Tsuna almost asked what was wrong. But Kyoko being the angel she was, explained everything with her next words.

"Aren't saury supposed to be found in the Pacific?"

His mind blanked.

"How did you manage to catch it in the river?'

Sweat started beading. Over her shoulder, his sister and mother were having a low-key, 'oh shit' moment.

"Isn't that obvious Kyoko?" Ryohei boomed. Grey eyes zeroed in on his knowingly.

"Obvious?" she prompted lightly.

"It's because Sawada..."

All three Sawadas swallowed.

"HAS EXTREME SKILLS THAT ALLOW HIM TO DO SO!"

The silence was deafening. Even the river quietened. Then-

"I see!" Kyoko beamed. "That's amazing Tsuna-kun!"

He gaped.

"Wha-"

Akira pulled him aside frantically. Face straining with the sheer effort of holding back laughter.

"D-don't question it Tsuna. Don't question it. He's a-" a violent snort unfortunately escaped her. "-gift horse. Don't look in his mouth." she pressed on louder regardless of the amusement wracking her voice, purposefully drowning out the disbelieving spluttering that followed. "Uh- Mum! The grill's ready right? We should probably get started on the fish."

She sharply elbowed him in the ribs when he continued to splutter. Their mother was immediately on board.

"Of course!" her game face was on, complete with her winning smile. Tsuna's crush was present. They weren't going to waste such a wonder opportunity. "Why don't you come eat with us? There's enough for all of us!"

"That is extremely nice of you!" Ryohei grinned.

"Thank you very much!" Kyoko added. Akira quickly ushered them to the picnic table, leaving a still shocked Tsuna behind with an over-the-top wink and another teasing thumbs up.

That snapped him out of it. He pointedly ignored her, turning on his heel to watch breakfast finally going under way. He was in dire need of some sustenance if he was to last through this ordeal.

His mother was running the saury under water, ridding them of riverbank grass and dirt from his previous hasty actions.

"You're cooking today?"

Tsuna received a cheerful nod in reply.

"I can't let your sister beat me now can I? More importantly Tsu-kun..." She trailed off, shooting him a meaningful glance at him out of the corner of her eye. One hand went up to cup her face adoringly. "Kyoko-chan is very pretty isn't she? I wouldn't mind having her as a daughter."

" _Muuuum!_ " he whined.

His mother only giggled.

"Did I hear plans of replacing me?" Akira frowned good-naturedly as she reached them. "Your best and most awesome daughter?"

Nana pursed her lips, pretending to be doubtful.

"I don't know, Kyoko-chan might just make a better daughter than you."

Akira grumbled inaudibly at this and Tsuna couldn't help the violent snort of amusement that escaped him. He grinned openly at his sister, knowing that she couldn't do anything to him while their mother was around.

She narrowed her eyes at him before suddenly grinning smugly back.

"Well, all Tsuna has to do is marry her then."

He choked, blood racing to his face and ears again. He threw a disgruntled glare in her direction when both started chortling at his expense. This time Tsuna had a hardhat to pull over his eyes.

"Oh, you're cooking mum?" Akira blinked. "I thought I was."

"Just because I let you cook more than usual this week Ki-chan, doesn't mean you're suddenly in charge of all the cooking." Nana rolled her eyes fondly, a teasing smile upon her lips. "Plus, I think everyone would agree that the saury would taste much better if I was the one cooking it. Wouldn't they?"

Tsuna nodded a bit more wholeheartedly than needed, a small bit of revenge for earlier.

Akira however, was much too intent on their mother's words to notice.

"Are you suggesting my food isn't nice?"

"It's certainly not better than mine dear."

He blinked, sensing the change in the atmosphere. Their mother only ever used dear when-

"Tsuna." his sister didn't look away from their mother for a second. "Why don't you go peel the radishes for us and grate them. Impress Kyoko with your skills."

The jibe was there, but the gleam in her eyes wasn't quite the mirth he was accustomed to all day. So it really was-

" _We have a score to settle_."

The fact that they said it at the same time, with the same misleadingly jovial expressions made it that much more terrifying. He made a beeline for the radishes the moment the knives came out.

He knew better to interfere in their culinary duels.

"Grilled saury is a popular dish in autumn isn't it mum?"

"Of course, that's common knowledge dear."

"Well... autumn is my given name. I'm in my element."

"Autumn is a season not a element dear. And the kanji for your name is bright not autumn."

Both laughed humourlessly. Tsuna shivered, deliberately taking a seat at the bench facing away from the sudden, scarily competitive air behind him. Giving him a great view however, of the Sasagawa siblings' expressions across from him as they watched the proceedings with open curiosity.

Pretending not to hear the hair raising _sching_ of knives behind him, Tsuna picked up his own and leisurely, _meditatively_ started shaving away at the radish skin.

"The scales are extremely flying everywhere!" Ryohei exclaimed.

"I hope they don't cut their fingers."

Oh look, he was up to grating the radish already. Maybe Akira wasn't lying when she said he was good at peeling vegetables.

"The extreme salt is sparkling!" Ryohei roared, punching the air in excitement.

"I never knew cooking could be so pretty." Kyoko mused.

"Your knife work is getting a bit sloppy dear." his mother's voice floated over to his ears.

"Really? Yours seems slower than last time mother dearest."

Frankly, Tsuna thought they were terrifying like this. So to soothe himself, he started cut off a piece of leftover radish and started cutting out a flower. A neat little trick he learnt from Akira last time.

"EXTREME HEAT!"

He wasn't exaggerating. Tsuna felt it singing the hairs on the back of his neck. The flames were reflected in their eyes. He couldn't ignore the sheer size of it. His head whipped around, because there was no way such a small grill could produce-

And there they were. Both with a steaming plate in each hand, a triumphant look upon their faces and backs suavely turned to the dainty grill still spewing columns of some sort of dragon fire behind them.

Tsuna was rendered speechless.

The set the plates onto the table with an assured air, garnished the sides with the grated radish and took a step back.

" _Enjoy the meal_." they chorused.

All three stared down at the four piping plates of salt grilled saury, drool unconsciously collecting in their mouths.

Kyoko took the first bite.

Then Ryohei.

Then Tsuna.

Then in a matter of seconds, all but two fish on the plates had been picked clean to the bone.

"That was extremely delicious!" Ryohei exclaimed, slamming his hands onto the table.

"It really was!" Kyoko agreed.

"Thanks for the food." Tsuna mumbled, stifling an utterly satisfied burp.

Akira grinned with her arms crossed, their mother smiled indulgently. His sister then leaned towards them expectantly.

"So?" she prompted, "Which one did you enjoy more."

The three exchanged glances. Tsuna blushing slightly when his gaze met Kyoko's. Then all three pointed to the plates on the left.

His mother smiled wider, and his sister looked completely defeated.

"Looks like I won't be handing the title of chef to you just yet Ki-chan." she chirped, "That was about the three hundredth little cook-off wasn't it? You haven't won once yet."

"Two hundred and ninety seventh." she corrected with a huff, picking into the fish and hoping to cover the taste of defeat lingering in her mouth.

"It was a close pick Akira-san. I think it was just a matter of experience." Kyoko soothed.

His sister blinked, before leaning over to him.

"I like her. She's nice." she said simply. "You've got good taste."

Tsuna ducked his head, but with a bashfully pleased smile on his face nonetheless.

"Oh, did you cut this flower Tsu-kun?" Nana inquired, picking up his little radish creation.

"Uh y-yeah." he rubbed his neck when Kyoko started admiring it.

"It's really pretty Tsuna-kun!"

"Y-you can keep it if you want." it took every shred of courage in him to say it, but never felt prouder when she brightened visibly.

"Really?"

Akira on the other hand look visibly moved, with one hand covering her mouth as if overwhelmed with emotion. She nudged shoulders repeatedly with their mother, making Tsuna feel twice as self-conscious. It wasn't hard to catch tid-bits of their exchange, especially when he was sitting right next to them.

"My baby brother is growing up so fast!"

"Quite the smooth move Tsu-kun did!"

"Thank you Tsuna-kun!" the honey haired teen smiled warmly.

She had dimples. Tsuna smiled hesitantly back, feeling all gooey inside.

"KYOKO!"

The whole table jumped at the sheer volume.

"We must extremely go! I'm late for boxing practice!" he proclaimed. "Thank you for the food Sawada, Sawada-san and Sawada-san!"

"Oh! Um, thank you very much Akira-san, Nana-san and Tsuna-kun! I guess we have to go!"

At this the brunet deflated.

"O-okay... bye I guess?" his disappointment was tangible.

Akira missed nothing. She exchanged a quick glance with her mother before acting.

"Hey uh Kyoko-chan!" she called. "There's a big sale in the market tomorrow, we were planning to go. Are you free to come with us?"

She beamed.

"Of course! What time?"

"How about eight thirty?"

"Alright!"

"Great!" she grinned, "Tsuna will be there too won't you Tsuna?"

At her nudge, he broke out of his surprised stupor and scrambled to answer.

"D-definitely!"

And with an over-the-top ninety degree bow from the older Sasagawa sibling and a much gentler one from the younger, they were gone. Tsuna was still grinning stupidly in the wake of their departure, or more specifically the wake of his crush's departure.

"Young love." their mother sighed happily, moving away to gather the kitchen utensils from the other bench. Tsuna felt another nudge in his ribs.

"Isn't your sister just the best Tsuna?" Akira raised her eyebrows at him expectantly. He paused, before grudgingly nodding in agreement. She had just guaranteed another day out with Kyoko after all.

"I guess." then with a more heartfelt tone, "Thanks Aki-nee."

Of course she had to ruin the whole grateful moment.

"Well, someone had to be man enough to ask her out."

Maybe it was due to hanging around the DC members, and being exposed to their blasé, rough and tumble attitude for too long. But it was definitely due to a whole disgruntled morning of dealing with Akira's antics. Tsuna decided to suddenly leap out of the boundaries of 'in-character' and flipped her the bird.

His sister gaped, her eyebrows rose. Tsuna started regretting everything.

She opened her mouth, and what came out was also the most unexpected thing.

"Muuuum! Tsuna put the rude finger up at me!"

"HIE! I did not!"

"Ki-chan, Tsu-kun, I do wish you two would grow up."

Was the ever patient reply of their mother.

 **A/N**

 ***Salt grilled saury is a dish popular to eat during autumn in Japan**

 **Every time I receive a notification in my email alerting to you beautiful followers, favouriters, reviewers I cry tears of joy. And sadness because the workload in the senior years of high school has increased and leaves me with much less time to write.**

 **Thank you to everyone reading!**

 **Seriously though. Tears of joy.**


	10. Chapter 8: Reminiscence VIII

**Chapter 8**

 _You probably don't remember this one but... Remember when mum and I pulled off that set-up?_

The world suddenly clamped shut to his ears. He wiped his palms roughly against the worn fibres of his pants. Twice. Three times.

The previously snug and warm collar of his hoodie now felt clammy and suffocating. All at once he felt he was dressed like a complete slob. Unprepared was an understatement. The opposing ideas of mortification, betrayal and elation made his face numb. His cell phone weighed a ton in his pocket, burdened by a single, not so apologetic text message from his sister.

His legs trembled, and he wiped his palms again.

He should have never agreed to going ahead first.

"Tsuna-kun!"

He threw a desperate prayer to the higher deities of Namimori.

"Sorry I'm late! Oh, and my brother has boxing practice today so he couldn't make it."

His heart stilled, before thundering like hail against a tin roof.

Tsuna had been thrown right into the deep end. His family had bailed on him and left him to a day out with Kyoko.

Alone.

* * *

It was perfect. The disguise, the vantage point, the plan, everything. She felt like a secret agent right out of one of those spy movies. With a nod to her partner in crime across the path, she hummed the little spy jingle under her breath, feeling more than proud as she observed her two subjects from a safe distance. A water pistol or something would just complete everything.

They were on the move. Damn it, what was with the distance between the two?

Nonetheless she slinked after them.

Discreet and suave. Like a chameleon. Or Invisi-man from her childhood TV shows.

Invisi-man was cool.

Low-key and _smooth-_

"Akira?"

The brunette swore, shades knocking askew at being identified with such undignified ease. Pixie cut and wide amber eyes, surprisingly, framed by glasses she was rarely ever caught wearing- it was Natsumi.

"It _is_ you Akira dear!" She bounded over to the brunette, completely oblivious to their frantic signalling of _nodon't._ "What are you squatting in these bushes for? You know the toilet is just behind-"

A single hand pulling desperately at the scruff of her neck had her careening face-first into the bushes. Almost cracking skulls in the process and certainly landing gracelessly in heap of scuffed and scraped limbs.

"Keep it down Natsumi!" Akira hissed lowly, "And stay down!"

The pixie-haired teen merely took advantage of their closeness to sling an arm around the brunet in a hearty hug.

"Sorry! I just haven't spent any time with you since I graduated!" she made a point to lower her voice, but the pout in her tone was obvious as she rambled on. "Koutarou made me go back to monitoring work when you visited last time too! Not to mention the bad mood you've been in lately. Do you really hate us that much?"

Akira teetered a moment before sagging, readjusting her shades with one hand and patting her on the shoulder sincerely with the other.

"Alright, alright. I missed you too." she huffed gruffly.

Natsumi grinned at this, punching her in the shoulder amiably.

"You're as socially awkward as ever Akira."

The brunet allowed a few seconds to return the light punch, before the need to turn back to the matter at hand grew too strong to ignore. Like a switch being flipped, she was once again immersed in her refined, undercover persona.

Debonair Invisi-man-

"So what's with the ridiculous get-up?"

She spluttered indignantly.

"It's a disguise!" Akira grumbled. "I'm blending into my surroundings. Loud in the crowd, silent in the shadows."

"Aww, what corny superhero show did you get that line from-?" her cooing was cut short by the brunette elbowing her in the ribs with a mutter of 'thought of it myself'. Barely stifling a snort, Natsumi asked, "What are you supposed to be disguised as Akira?"

"A tourist." Her response so immediate, so sure, Natsumi almost felt bad when mirth had her voice shaking.

"Y-you've got on a bright blue Hawaiian print shirt and shades Akira."

The look she received conveyed the brunette's genuine confusion.

"I know." her brows furrowed, wondering if there was something wrong with her pixie haired friend. "I'm a _tourist_ Natsumi."

Natsumi placed her hands on their shoulders soothingly, enunciating each of her next words painstakingly clearly.

"You're supposed to be a tourist in Japan dear."

"I know. Where else would I be?"

"And in Japan it's autumn, not summer."

"Well yeah. I can tell."

Natsumi raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Look, I really don't know where you're going with all this." Akira shrugged her hands off lightly with a sigh. All this obvious talk about seasons was throwing her off her spy game. If her espionage were to remain as flawless as it was so far, she needed to concentrate on the task at hand. "Why are you here anyway?"

Natsumi stared, weighing her options. She could easily rip the bright, straw, sun hat off the brunette's head. She bit her lip, and decided that the sunhat a vast improvement from the hardhat. She needlessly adjusted the frames resting on the bridge of her nose as she considered their question. The glint off the lens immediately enhanced her in a sombre and intellectual light.

"There's special sale in the markets."

"I see."

The amber-haired woman had a penchant for bringing back the most peculiar junk (novelty straws), but occasionally there would an exception. Last time in particular, the technician had managed to scrounge up a whole three boxes of heat packs and pocket hand warmers. An endeavour that was serving her greatly at the presently. She barely felt the autumn chill with the numerous heat packs strapped under her tanktop and tropical shirt.

The niggling feeling that arose at the reminder of the strange combination was casually nonchalantly brushed aside. Her disguise was flawless. And like that, Akira re-donned her classy air, sweeping the vicinity for her targets, only to swear when she turned up empty-handed.

"Hey, hey. So what are we doing Akira?" Natsumi prodded, a wide smile on her face.

Still grumbling under her breath, the brunette fixed her with a gravely serious look.

"If you want in Natsumi, you have to understand that this is far from a game. It is crucial that this set up succeeds today."

The amber-haired woman's eyes seemed to sparkle as she nodded vigorously. Akira stared a while longer before relenting grimly.

"We've roped my brother into a date with his _crush_." on the last word, the sheer excitement she had been struggling to contain under her spy persona simply boiled over. The expression on her face was caught somewhere in between proud smile and smug smirk.

Like a switch being flipped, Natsumi was suddenly no longer a bump in the plan. She was her equally smooth and suave partner in crime.

"I see. So who are the 'we' you speak of friend?"

Akira visibly flinched, her entire frame stilling and freezing in horror.

" _Please_ don't call me that Natsumi." sincere discomfort overflowed in her voice. "I don't think I can ever hear or think about _them_ without going insane for at least two years."

"Ah." Natsumi nodded sagely. "I see. Trauma from the Nakai-"

She never managed to whip out her phone faster in her life.

"Agent double-oh-seven! I uh need your help."

It was safe to say, Natsumi was sufficiently distracted from ever completing her sentence.

"HOLY SHIT you have _the_ double-oh-seven working with you?!" the amber-haired technician gawped. The brunette was surprised her exclamation didn't give away their location. She chalked it down to her fantastic disguise.

"Right? Ain't it fucking cool?" Akira grinned broadly, returning the repeated elbow nudges looking completely chuffed. The cell phone however, did nothing to muffle the sharpness of the voice that came through not a second later. She paled immediately. "S-sorry mum, no, I won't be swearing again."

Natsumi only gawped further.

"Your mum is double-oh-seven?!"

Akira blinked, still tenderly holding the phone away from her ear.

"Yes and no? Well I mean if you think about it, her name can mean seven." while Natsumi started having a fit over the revelation, Akira mustered enough courage to place the phone back against her ear. "Right, so they went to the cake shop down the street."

"Where is she?! What is she doing?! Do you think I could get her autograph?!" only the brunette's hand hastily plastering itself across her mouth ceased the onslaught of questions.

Akira mouthed 'undercover' firmly with a sharp glint in her eyes. With a signal of her hand, she motioned for the amber haired teen to follow. Out of the bush and into another. The brunette's gaze narrowed triumphantly onto the two figures only metres away.

Her brother was window-shopping with his crush. Her heart was practically bursting with sibling pride. Ignoring Natsumi's curious fidgeting, she flipped her phone open, snapped a photo and started clicking away at the keys.

 _They're standing closer than before. A full two centimetres closer. Aren't you just so proud of our little Tsu-kun?_

The response was swift and without mercy.

 _I'm always proud of you two Ki-chan. Especially when you're not swearing.  
But yes, I can already hear the wedding bells!_

She wasn't allowed to revel in the bliss for long, the amber haired technician was practically vibrating in excitement and poorly repressed expectation. Akira turned away from the moving scene before her reluctantly.

"She's in the cafe, acting as my eyes in the sky, and probably not." the brunette then paused in thought. "But she'd probably cook you some food if you asked nicely."

Natsumi's impression of a shake weight was spot on.

"A-a-a meal cooked by _the_ double-oh-seven?!" the technician latched onto her shoulders with both hands, and needless to say, Akira did not enjoy it at all when she tried to turn her into one as well. "For m-me?!"

She batted at the offending limbs, disguise knocking askew for the second time.

"Not just for you, I need to eat as well." Akira rolled her eyes, grumbling. "Geddoff!"

She didn't. Instead she went scarily still.

"Wait, you said that she's-" Natsumi licked her lips, inquiring quietly. "she's your eyes in the sky?"

The brunette eyed her warily, slapping her straw sun hat back on her head.

"Yes..."

It took every last scrap of her pride as a capable secret agent to not cry 'lordhelpme' when Natsumi lunged at her with the most terrifying glint in her eye.

"How can double-oh-seven be your eyes in the sky?! I thought I was your eyes in the sky! Akiraaaaaaa!"

Natsumi's devastated whining drew all the unwanted attention her flawless disguise had warded off. Heads turned like housewives at the announcement of a half-price grocery sale. Through the neck dislocating shaking of the shoulders, Akira valiantly brought her phone to her ear with much difficulty.

"Position compromised! Position compromised! Mayday-!" and when the mauling only intensified. "Muuuuuuum!"

* * *

The brunette lady on the rooftop cafe dabbed daintily at the corners of her lips to rid them of any crumbs left from the delightful scone she had savoured. Absently, she smoothed the smart and sharp business suit her daughter, whose distressed voice carried even without the aid of the cell phone on the table. had insisted she wear for the sake of immersion.

She had to agree, it was quite the neat little disguise and plan Akira had cooked up.

"My, I feel like a school girl again! Watching those western movies, except I'm in one! How exciting!" she mused, watching the scuffle in the bushes from her comfortable perch. "Seems like Ki-chan and her friend are having fun as well!"

As another static woven cry crackled through the phone, Nana decided a reassurance was in order.

"Not to worry Ki-chan, Tsu-kun is too occupied with blushing at Kyoko-chan to notice you right now!"

 _"Help- AKIRA DEAR WHY?!- arrrghh!"_

Nana was quickly distracted by the waiter sweeping by to take her finished plate away.

"Enjoying everything ma'm?"

She smiled brightly back.

"Why yes, very much so!"

"I'll bring you your cappuccino right in a moment."

"Thank you!"

Turning back to her splendid view, a vivid splash of dyed hair approaching her skilled but oblivious field agent's position had her pausing. She lifted her sunglasses for a clearer inspection and caught sight of a second figure trailing not too far behind the first.

She supposed it was something she should be reporting to her daughter.

But the arrival of her cappuccino, brought a deliciously warm aroma that enveloped and made away with any thought that had been going through her mind. Her daughter's possible predicament was easily overridden by the horrible thought of such a wonderful beverage going lukewarm.

Her excuse? Well, she had doubted Akira would have heard her warning anyway, over all that racket.

* * *

Akira had another dilemma on her hands. Natsumi had thankfully stopped inadvertently dislocating her brain but had alas started moping and sobbing. She never knew what to do with a crying Natsumi, it made her out to especially be a jerk wad.

"A-am I not cool enough f-for the title?"

"Uh-"

Akira felt the teen's hiccups with awkward acuteness.

"I m-mean I know i-it's a cool title!" she blubbered. Akira nodded, more so in agreement of the coolness of the title than at an attempt to soothe her. But to the brunette's credit, she did attempt, with great difficulty, the briefest of pats on the shoulder. She tried to be comforting, she really did.

Then Natsumi started wailing.

"Do you n-not trust me to b-be your eyes in the sky Akira dear?!"

Shocked by her undercover mission falling apart in such a manner, and confused as to what to do with the blubbering mess before her, Akira was at a complete loss.

But the suffocating weight was lifted off her shoulders in quite a literal manner.

"Well shit, how could she Natsumi? She never trusted you to be her eyes in the bedroom but you did so anyway."

There was a following splutter, that sounded suspiciously like something along the lines of 'how'd you know about my cameras'.

And there, with Natsumi dangling from their grip stood Seiji, the red devil himself. Upon his face, a fanged grin that promised nothing but the violent demise of all her undercover efforts.

 _"Unhand me you bastard!"_

As Natsumi immediately flipped from moping mess to thrashing terror complete with a furious scowl that stood heroically against the red-head's bemused grin, Akira started rapid-fire muttering sutras under her breath, wholeheartedly pushing in the technician's favour. But her desperate attempt at an exorcism of Seiji was in the end, only desperate. And he honed in on desperation like a moth to light.

"What's with the get-up Akira? Flight to Hawaii got cancelled or some shit?"

The casual way with which her well-thought out disguise was brushed aside once again simply rubbed her the wrong way. And she thought they would happier that she had swapped out the hardhat. Classy secret agent be damned, she dropkicked the hell out of that smug mug. Or at least she tried to.

All she managed to do was make him drop Natsumi.

It wasn't the smartest, as the moment the amber-haired woman hit the floor, she was dangling from the brunette's neck again and snapping at Seiji. Akira was in half the mind to join her. All she wanted was to comfortably enjoy the beautiful date she had set up, but the disruptions seemed to be endless.

"It's a _disguise_." she forced a tolerant smile, it came out like more of a gentle death threat than anything.

And despite having questioned the same thing not too long ago Natsumi voiced her support primly.

" _Obviously._ "

At their open animosity and suspicion, the red-head raised his hands before him in an attempt to appease.

"Hey now, there's no need for the defensiveness." Seiji reassured, grinning his trustworthy grin.

They levelled him with equally flat stares.

"No really, I'm not here to take the piss at you or anything."

Their brows elevated to their hairlines with a slowness that spoke volumes of their scepticism. It hurt him, it really did. But it hardly bothered him as much as the sheer snark he had been trying to hold down. The two were looking at him with so much expectation that he just had to deliver.

"But really Natsumi? You took the day off to spend time crouching in a bush with Akira? Is this one of your weird fetishes-" he easily swung away as they took their respective potshots at him, grinning merrily all the while.

Natsumi jabbed an accusing finger in his direction, eyes watering.

"Why does my quality time with Akira always have to be ruined?! By you and double-oh-seven-" she whipped around to face the brunette. "and I'm not forgetting that dinner with double-oh-seven you promised me!"

"Huh-? Oh sure."

Her lip quivered, and both Akira and Seiji jumped when she dashed away bawling.

"I have a sale to get to dammit!"

Futilely Akira called after her in an attempt to remedy the situation.

"I'm sorry Natsumi! You can be Q alright?!" she ruffled the short hairs at the back of her head in distress at their retreating figure.

Seiji snorted.

"Well, I'm just dropping something off for you Akira." he patted her shoulder comfortingly. "I don't want to cause you any further inconvenience to your..." the redhead gave her colourful attire one last meaningful once over. "whatever this is."

Akira frowned.

"Dropping what off?"

He tipped his head towards a very familiar, scowling, dark-haired middle-schooler behind him.

"Oh, just a little thing called overdue responsibility." Seiji's signature shit-eating grin was back, and with it, all the unwanted memories of the Nakai incident she thought she had thoroughly bleached from her mind. "Remember Mochida-kun?"

"No." she breathed, voice rising with panic as she continued. "No you can't do this Red! This was supposed to be a day where I could stalk and be entertained by my brother's first date! You can't make me babysit on such an important day!"

But Seiji was already turning to walk away.

"You'll be fine! Just pretend he's your little sidekick or something!" he cackled, before pausing to fix her with a innocent grin. "Oh hey, that was some kinky secret agent roleplay shit you had going on with Natsumi there."

It was with wholehearted earnestness that Akira sent him off with both her middle fingers proudly raised.

"Oi."

She turned to mirror the scowl of her unwanted responsibility.

"What the _fuck_ are you wearing?"

Her phone buzzed. A message from her mother.

 _Ki-chan, I do hope it wasn't you I saw putting up the rude finger at that young man._

Feeling at a loss, Akira flipped her phone back shut and narrowed her eyes in a glower at the teen.

"That's 'what the fuck are you wearing Agent Matchmaker?' to you, _sidekick_."

* * *

Tsuna had been reduced into some sort of incoherent stupor, induced by extreme exposure to the dazzling radiance his crush seemed to exude with every little action. And he alone had the fortunate misfortune of her closest proximity.

Was it possible for a single individual to possess ability to simultaneously nurture and crush his self-esteem with their very presence?

He blinked and curled into himself when he caught the stares in the reflection of the window his shopping 'companion' was attracting. He did not miss how the stares turned from admiring to incredulous when they slid from her to him. The back of his neck burned. He suddenly felt painfully self-conscious of his own disgustingly, sloppy appearance.

"Don't these sweets look delicious Tsuna-kun?"

Tsuna jumped slightly, a tentative but goofy smile inching its way onto his face at the bright-eyed look the honey-haired teen sent him. Not quite registering her question until several seconds after.

"H-huh? O-oh! Yeah, t-they do! Y-yep definitely." he broke off laughing stupidly, discreetly wiping his palms for the umpteenth time. Real smooth Tsuna, definitely over committed on that one. But before he could beat himself over it too much, a movement beside him caught his attention.

Kyoko tucking a silky honey lock behind her ear.

Tsuna swallowed thickly, cheeks tinged pink and mouth gaping slightly. Just like that he was back in his dazed stupor. And broke right out of it when a pixie-haired, bawling woman barrelled past him, bumping his shoulder and knocking him into Kyoko.

He immediately flushed bright red, spluttering garbled apologies and all but leaping away to create needed distance between them.

"That's alright." she said simply, before blinking after the woman's figure. "I wonder what had her so upset?"

"Y-yeah." Tsuna rubbed his shoulder absently, one terrifying innocent thought popping into his head as Kyoko pulled him along to another shop's window.

That would probably be him if he bumbled up in front of his crush too much.

* * *

Akira couldn't help but shoot a thumbs up at her amber-haired friend when Natsumi managed to skilfully knock Tsuna into Kyoko. That constant over half meter distance between them was getting annoying. She wasn't sure whether to frown or snort when her brother immediately sprung away from the slightest of contact with his crush, as if electrocuted.

"Your awkwardness is _tangible_ Tsuna." she huffed.

For some reason, her unwanted charge Mochida Kensuke chose this moment to start paying attention. She silently wondered how one's eyebrow could be raised and furrowed at the same time without the individual looking ridiculous.

He somehow pulled it off.

"Did you say Tsuna?" he demanded. Akira glanced at him briefly.

"Yeah."

"As in Sawada Tsunayoshi from my school?"

She blinked. This person went to the same school as her brother? Maybe she could somehow manipulate this Mochida to befriend her brother-

"As in _Dame-Tsuna_?" the dark-haired teen's sneer was magnificent. Her train of thought was subjected to a wreckage immediately. "We're following that _loser_?"

Akira's expression went deceivingly amiable. Mochida seemed not to sense his impending demise, instead squinting at the two figures they had been trailing in the distance.

"Wait- is that the Sasagawa Kyoko he's walking next to?!" his eyes narrowed in outrage, and he rose from his crouch in the bushes, cracking his knuckles menacingly. "Who the fuck does the _washout_ think he is, hanging around with Nami-middle's idol-!"

Mochida choked when the collar of his hoodie dug into his throat as he was wrenched sharply right back into cover. Grunting when his rear impacted the ground harshly, the teen whipped around himself with a furious scowl to find the perpetrator.

He was saved the effort as he felt himself being roughly yanked into a one armed headlock. Loose enough for him to recognise the face of his new keeper, but suffocating enough to get their point across.

Teeth bared at him in a sharp smile. The curve of the brunette's eyes by no means as friendly as it suggested.

Mochida let out a very unmanly 'eep'.

He was prey in the clutches of Namimori's predator of the bushes. And to add to the humiliation, the terrifying predator was clothed in a bright, tropical shirt.

"Let me let you in on a little secret my foolish sidekick." Akira's voice was light, but the tightening of her arm made up for what little threat it lacked. "That _loser_ and _washout_ you're talking about, he's my little brother."

He gulped audibly.

"So to make up for all the shit-talk about dear Tsuna over there, you'll happily make sure this date I've set up for him goes smoothly. Right?"

And despite the unjust tyranny he was being subjected to, Mochida mustered the last of his bruised pride and courage.

"No!" he managed to splutter in protest. "Sasagawa's _my_ future girl-!"

 _"Ah?"_

All civil pretense dropped, the cowing glare he was shot was something that crossed from delinquent right into Yakuza territory. Any further protests immediately wilted on his tongue.

"Good man." Akira released him with a casual dig of her knuckles into the crown of his head. He leapt away at once, glaring at her with a significantly more battered-looking scowl. One look at the two figures several meters had his mood souring further.

"I should be the one with Kyoko in the pet shop right now..." he muttered bitterly.

" _Pet shop?_ "

The way Akira's eyes widened, Mochida might as well have announced that Armageddon itself was upon them. And in the brunette's meticulous and brilliant, grand scheme of things, it was not far off at all. She locked onto her brother in the distance with a speed fuelled by panic.

Right as he disappeared into that deceitfully innocent shop of horrors.

Spewing profanities, under her breath lest her mother heard, Akira all but kicked Mochida into motion, forcing the teen to either trip or be ungracefully herded into yet another cluster of man-nurtured shrubbery. One that had a clear view of the terrible incidents about to possibly unfold around the two blissfully unaware middle-schoolers.

Sure those cute little hamsters are harmless enough but-

"Do you have to choose the prickliest damn bushes in this place?!" Mochida snapped, dusting himself off and irritably inspecting a shallow cut on his elbow. Apparently he had recovered from their previous interaction enough to start make her life that much harder again. "I'm getting cuts everywhere!"

She turned to appraise his injury with an impatient look.

"Oh suck it up you baby." she grumbled, causing him to splutter. "Right now we need a plan to get my brother and his date the hell out of that hell-hole."

The dark-teen gave the pet-shop an incredulous once over.

"It's just a damn pet-shop, what's up with you?" and when his gaze fell on his two school-mates at the window he sneered. "Plus they seem pretty _cozy_ to me."

"Exactly they're in a _pet shop_." Akira emphasised, "You don't understand how bad that combination is."

She turned back to the pet shop, and the sight that greeted her had her blood run cold.

What her brother's crush was holding was what nightmares were made of. What her brother's nightmares were made of. The brunette found herself crossing her fingers, desperately hoping for a miracle.

Her brother froze up, joints locking up the moment he caught sight of that puppy, that _Chihuahua_ in Kyoko's arms. And Akira knew, Tsuna had not recovered from his childhood trauma in the slightest.

His debilitating fear of dogs.

All at once enlightenment hit. Akira suddenly knew, why she wasn't enjoying her once in a lifetime set up as much as she should be, why she had felt not hysterical glee but unease ever since the beginning of her brother's impromptu date.

Her brother wasn't exactly the dashing and smooth lady-killer who would breeze through something like a date. Her brother was someone who she had to hold hands with and bodily drag, kicking and screaming through the gauntlet known as 'once-in-a-lifetime' events to even _hope_ to glimpse a result that could be considered success.

Because he was Tsuna, he was a Sawada. He came from a long line of predecessors who all possessed a 'luck' like no other.

And as Akira noticed the _bright, orange faux-hawk_ of the employee approaching her brother with another puppy in arm, she realised that she too came from that very same line.

"Stay here and stand watch sidekick."

Ignoring the demand of where she was going, Akira steeled her resolve and stalked towards the pet shop.

The effortless recognition that twinkled in the employee's eye at her approach despite her scrupulous disguise disturbed her, yes. But like hell was she going to stand idly by while her little brother's rare chance at a love-life gets destroyed by a Chihuahua puppy.

" _Friend!_ "

That refreshing smile through the window had her fighting back the onslaught of trauma that threatened to overtake her. Akira twitched visibly, threw a desperate prayer to the higher deities of Namimori and pressed on against her better judgement.

"Oh, the _things_ I do for family..." she breathed.

 **A/N** **So I got finally got off my procrastinating arse to pump out this chapter. Because you readers are beautiful and too kind to me and I'm feeling guilty dammit.** **This one's for all of your fantastic FFR'ing butts you beautiful, _beautiful_ people.  
And like always, thank you _very_ much for taking the time to read.**


	11. Chapter 9: Reminiscence IX

**Chapter 9**

 _"You're a fucking bad luck charm."_

A passerby faltered in their steps at the possibility of a profanity savvy bush.

" _The fuck I am!_ You're the one who tried to raze the whole damn pet shop to the _ground_!"

"I wouldn't have had to resort to that if your _smug mug_ hadn't decided to show up and traumatise the shit out of my brother."

As Namimori's newest police officer, he had been trained to deal and settle all manners of disputes before being posted to the local marketplace. But the man found himself at a loss when he came to the bewildering realisation that parties involved were squabbling bushes.

Perhaps this could be filed under public disturbance?

He caught a mother staring at him expectantly while covering her children's ears. Apparently swearing shrubbery was under his jurisdiction. Then he remembered the prior 'disturbance' he had been assigned to settle at a pet shop. He promptly decided to let the colourful language of scenic greenery to slip his notice.

Disapproving mothers he could handle. Excessive insanity he could not.

* * *

 _Earlier, Namimori Markets, Pet Shop_

He hated dogs.

No, he didn't hate them, they simply terrified everything that was good out of him.

While others saw them for their soft fur, endearing eyes, floppy ears, and loyalty, he saw only their gaping, slobbering maws, their booming barks and their demonic speed to chase down their victims.

"Tsuna-kun look! Isn't it so cute?"

Is it?

The bright-eyed look his crush directed towards him almost made him forget the nightmarish abomination cradled in her arms.

Almost.

He had the sudden urge to rip the creature from her arms and fling it far, far away from the pet shop- from him. But the moment his fingers twitched to act, the dog's head whipped around, pinning him with those black, black bottomless eyes.

And he froze, because he knew the wrong end of those needle-like teeth all too well.

Chihuahuas. Bane of his life. Newly crowned demise of his date.

Somebody save him from this cruel hell in heaven.

So caught up in his despair, he failed to realise the answer to his plea arriving in the form of the store's cheery welcome chime.

* * *

While her brother's attention was blinded by fear, she shot past the couple and slapped her palm across the potential demise of her covert operations.

"Mmph!"

Despite the hand clamming his words, she couldn't quite clam the irritatingly, delighted recognition that sparkled in his eyes. Breath hissing through her bared teeth in a frantic shushing noise, she bodily shoved the orange-haired store clerk back through the back room he emerged from.

" _Make one peep and I smother you with the puppy._ "

As if in response, the dog in his arms whined in protest. Akira noted to her displeasure that Fruit-pop was far from shaken despite her best spy movie villain impression. If only, he beamed brighter.

Warily, she peeled her hand away from his mouth.

"Glad to see you haven't changed friend!" he exclaimed brightly. "Your threats are as creative as the last time."

She twitched at the use of the dreaded f-word, but unhealthy curiosity had her breaking character.

"What was the last time?"

"You said you'd bust my head like a melon." he chirped.

Akira pursed her lips, impressed at her own badassery.

"Are you here to buy a pet, friend? A puppy perhaps?" Fruit-pop shoved the Chihuahua before her nose. She pushed its drooling snout firmly away.

"Not if I want to keep what little chance my brother has at romance Fruit-pop." she replied gravely. "This is probably going to make my trauma worse, but sadly the fate of this operation rests on your shoulders."

"Anything friend!" he readily accepted.

"First of all, stop calling me 'friend'."

"Got it comrade."

"You know what, never mind." she said dully. "Here's the deal, my dearest little brother is out there, suffering scarring trauma from being exposed to that little beast-"

"You mean the Chihuahua puppy?"

"Yes. In fact the only reason he's barely keeping himself from running and screaming is because he's with his crush-" Akira paused in confusion when Fruit-pop sniffled.

The orange-haired teen wiped away a (refreshing) tear.

"Friend, your brother's a true manly man." he seemed gaze down at himself and the puppy in disgust. "And to think I almost sabotaged his valiant efforts- I'm a disgrace!"

She gingerly patted the distraught teen on the arm.

"You can always make it up to him by helping me ensure their date's success, Fruit-pop."

"Anything, friend!" was the immediate response.

Akira nodded gravely, straightened her poise, stared evenly at the teen and called upon her best Invisi-man-spy impression.

"Very well. I rid you of your civilian status and bestow upon you the codename Field Agent K9." she declared grandly.

"K9? Oh I see! Like a dog right? Nice one friend!"

"You shall address me as Agent Matchmaker."

"Right, sorry!"

She cleared her throat gruffly, and started pacing around the room with hands clasped sharply behind her back.

"Our mission is to dispatch of the immediate dog threat, distract the target's crush and remove the target safely from the premises with the least trauma possible." she let her straw sunhat shadow her eyes ominously.

"Roger that Agent Matchmaker!" he beamed.

After a quick and smart disguise change into one of the spare employee uniforms at the insistence of Fruit-pop, Akira settled tensely behind the pet shop counter. She locked eyes with Agent K9 from across the room and nodded. The orange-haired teen shot her a determined thumbs-up.

If it were up to her, she would have been the one on the field dispatching the threat herself. However, even with her sunglasses and immaculate disguise, there was the risk of being identified at close range by her brother. So it was with reluctance and trepidation that she watched Fruit-pop make his way over to the couple with the prepared apologies of not being able to procure another puppy for them to hold.

Her brother sagged in blatant relief at the news. But there was no time to relax. The crisis was far from averted.

She gave the signal for the second stage of the operation.

Agent K9 confirmed it with a grim nod.

She watched him don his customer-winning smile, expression just the right balance of rueful and charming as he explained to Kyoko and her brother the reason why he had to take back the Chihuahua puppy.

And as the honey-haired girl went to hand the 'date-hazard' over without protest, Akira had to admit the reluctant respect she felt for how smooth Agent K9 was.

But wait. She straightened abruptly from behind the cover of a 'Pet Health' magazine. An unaccounted complication had arisen. 'Date hazard' was wiggling uncooperatively in Agent K9's arms, pawing insistently towards Kyoko and whining miserably.

Alarm bells started ringing in her head when the girl's expression predictably softened and pleaded towards Agent K9 to hold it a just while longer.

Well-played Count Smallpaws, well played.

Agent K9 turned towards her unsurely. She adamantly made an 'x' with her arms, shaking her head firmly. There would be no caving in to the 'date hazard's' wily charms today.

Somehow, despite the combined puppy-eyes of both 'date hazard' and the date, Agent K9 managed to wrestle the little beast back into secure custody. Perhaps he had caught onto the barely unvoiced pleas her brother had thrown in his mental direction.

Fruit-pop grinned at her as he bundled the menace back into its pen in the back room. She nodded approvingly back at him.

Mission succes-

The welcome bell chimed.

* * *

"Aw that puppy was so cute don't you think, Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko stared wistfully after the retreating figure of the employee.

"Y-yeah!" _NO._ Tsuna smiled twitchily back at her.

While her attention was diverted, he tipped his head back and clasped his hands in a tearfully, grateful prayer to the gods of Namimori. He was painfully aware of how narrowly he had escaped wetting his pants in front of his crush.

Stay strong Tsuna, stay strong.

Oblivious to his emotional moment, Kyoko happily pointed towards the glass compartments lining the wall.

"Let's go look at the hamsters!"

He nodded all-too eagerly. Hamsters he could do. Hamsters don't scare you Tsuna. Who's the man? You're the man Tsuna.

And with his self-encouragement firmly replaying through his mind, he puffed out his chest and scuttled after the honey-haired girl. So caught up in his gradually returning giddiness, he failed to notice the warning of the welcome chime until it was too late.

He almost had a heart attack when a meaty clap of an hand had him careening towards the hamster box.

"New guy!"

Namimori _why?_

"Sa-Sa-Sawamura-san?" Tsuna exclaimed through a glass-flattened nose.

The regent-haired teen grinned broadly.

"Fancy meeting you here! I guess you just can't part with your old patrol huh?" Sawamura nudged him roughly in the ribs, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder and drawing attention to the rest of his ex-patrol.

It was almost a comical sight, ten hulking, gakuran-clad figures bundled into a cheery pet shop. But it really wasn't.

"Are these your friends, Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko inquired from beside him.

"M-my former D.C. patrol mates." he said.

He flinched when Sawamura haphazardly slung an arm across his shoulders.

"Pish! Former? I don't care what vice-pres says, you're still as part of this patrol as any of us New Guy. Right boys?"

A rowdy chorus of agreeing whoops resounded through the pet shop.

"That's right!" Kyoko turned to him in realisation. "I'd heard that you had joined the Disciplinary Committee, Tsuna-kun."

He paled. What if she thought he was some sort of thug because of this? Sawamura and his patrol weren't the most friendly looking people after all. Not to mention the things they did for fun.

"It's not like-! I-I mean!" he hastily flailed through a clarification, "I'm o-only in charge of keeping records-!"

"I think it's a very brave and respectable duty!" she beamed.

Tsuna quickly cut himself off.

"O-oh!" he said lamely, a pleased blush tinging his cheeks. "I g-guess it's a bit dangerous... well quite... very- yeah!"

"She knows what it's all about!" Sawamura declared, nodding approvingly at Kyoko. "It's a duty that requires to work even on the weekends! Which is why we're here!"

"Why are you here exactly Sawamura-san?" Tsuna inquired tentatively, almost fearing the answer.

"Chairman has assigned us here to potentially procure a pet for the D.C.!"

"O-oh, that's nice I guess." he was surprised at how tame the answer was, "How about a hamster? They're pretty simple to take care of."

Sawamura stared at him as if he had suggested Vice-Chairman Kusakabe was secretly a hardcore Elvis impersonator.

"You're kidding right, New Guy? Nothing but a fierce hound to enforce the rules will suffice for the D.C.!"

The blood drained from his face at once.

"You'll help us choose, of course."

He rapidly backed away, shaking his head firmly.

"No, no." he said quickly, "S-sorry but I'm actually accompanying Kyoko-chan so I'm afraid I can't-"

"That's okay Tsuna-kun, I understand D.C. duties are important." Kyoko, ever the bright angel, smiled understandingly at him.

 _It was really not okay._

"No-!" he started.

"It's settled then!" Sawamura boomed, waving over the orange-haired employee from before. "You there! Bring me the toughest, baddest, dogs you have here!"

Nonononononono.

"You got it!"

As the employee started for the backroom, there was a curious cry of protest from the cashier. The sunglasses-wearing employee was almost as frazzled as he was.

But it was too late. Not a second after the orange-haired employee had disappeared, there were several bone-chilling, booming barks and three positively ferocious looking beasts burst from the back room.

One look at their salivating maws and Tsuna decided the only logical course of action was to fake fainting and play dead.

Only the welcoming chime sounded again. He was grabbed by the shoulder and spun roughly to meet the furious glower of none other than _the_ Mochida Kensuke.

 _"I'm fucking done watching your pathetic existence, Dame-Tsuna!"_

And Tsuna fainted for real.

* * *

If one were to describe Akira's thoughts at that moment, it would be a shambled mess of filthy and frantic profanities, with a few scattered, pleading prayers of mercy.

Her brother was down and frothing at the mouth.

Her stupid, _bloody_ side-kick was being lifted by the collar-

Her brother's DC friends, crying outrage over her brother's fallen body, had decided to remedy things by trying to beat in his sneering mug.

The dogs nipping at their heels and barking up a storm.

Fruit-pop flailing, running mad circles in a vain attempt to get the furry menaces under control.

Her brother's crush was blinking innocently through it all.

She thought, this was the end of her career as a secret agent.

Feeling something inside her break in the wake of failure of such proportions, she numbly dialled for help.

 _"Hello?"_

"Mum." she croaked out. "I've failed."

 _"I'm sorry what was that? I can't really hear you right now. There's a huge sale going on right now, and oh dear its loud!"_

"Help."

 _"I'm really sorry Ki-chan, but someone's trying to cut in line before me- I have to go!"_

"Mum-!"

The dial tone rang bleakly in her ears. She dropped her hand and stared blankly down at the phone screen. Akira rashly considered the considered the contact above her mother's.

Why is it that she always had to resort to Plan D when it came to her brother's success?

The floors shook with the force of Mochida being slammed to the ground and dog-piled. Both figuratively and literally. Fruit-pop had somehow ended up with his head stuck in a hamster cage. The rodent, valiantly dangling from his ghastly visage, having hooked its tiny paws up the orange-haired teen's nostrils.

Akira laughed a dead-sounding laugh. To hell with it all, they were going down in flames either way.

She clicked down on the green dial button, feeling distinctly as though she was signing her death warrant and waited.

 _"What."_

"Yeah, I have a-" a petrified hamster went sailing over her head, "...disturbance to report at the pet shop in Namimori Markets."

A mere ten minutes later, tonfa-wielding Bloody Vengeance himself was bearing down upon them all.

 _"Herbivores."_

Everything in the pet shop froze into deathly stillness.

Akira had just enough time to clap her hands in one final prayer of immense regret.

And the rest, as they say was (swift and merciless) history.

* * *

Nursing her tonfa-bruised jaw in a bush with her sidekick, she felt a strange camaraderie form between them in light of getting smacked down by the resident demon of Namimori. So much that she felt comfortable in divulging the one disgruntlement that had plagued her from the pet shop.

"I can't believe Kyouya was skilled enough to see through my disguise."

Mochida, with one hand still cradling his black-eye, fixed her with such a vehemently sceptical sneer, it actually made her pause.

" _For fuck's sake-_ It's because your disguise is _fucking_ _shit!_ "

The camaraderie was short-lived.

Akira stared despondently out to where her brother was trudging after his crush with a perpetual cloud of shame and gloom was hanging over his head, all the while casually squeezing Mochida's in a ruthless headlock.

She could practically hear his thoughts, blaming himself for the whole ordeal. He was just a damn, soft-hearted person like that. And as his sister, she'd failed him.

Mochida stared incredulously up at her.

"Are you fucking _crying?_ "

Akira rubbed her nose roughly to hide a sniffle, but she felt the sting of her eyes getting watery.

"Fuck no." she said gruffly, sucking it up like the older sibling she was and pinning him with a scowl that dared him to say otherwise. But his face expressed it all too clearly, she elbowed him in a still-tender bruise. "Why the hell did you have to ruin it for him?"

"Ow- shit!" he glared at her, rubbing angrily at the abused area. "I hardly did anything, Dame-Tsuna-" he quelled under her look. "...Sawada ruined it for himself way before I got there!"

She elbowed him again. He yelped.

"Goddammit!" he snapped, eyes watering in pain. "Can't I have feelings for Sasagawa too?! Fuck! It's not fair you know! I like her just as much as he does, and I'm stuck here- forced to _help_ _him_ make moves on the girl I like!"

Akira paused, blinking down at his furiously scowling figure. And she elbowed him again.

"You-!" he choked, howling in outrage. "What the hell was that for?!"

"For making me sympathise with you for a moment." she said.

" _That's so not fucking fair!_ "

"Life isn't fair, sidekick." she merely replied, in a infuriatingly dismissive tone. Akira scratched the side of her face. "No but really, as a younger sibling you should know. Despite knocking you around for fun most of the time, us older siblings have obligations to our younger siblings." she placed a hand over her heart solemnly, in mock oath. "Unspoken sibling code."

She looked to her brother's distant figure again, and visibly sagged into herself.

"And I've failed him!" she despaired, grabbing him by the shoulders. "How am I ever going to face my li'l bro anymore?!"

"Fuck if I know!"

"With a damn badass makeover, that's how."

Both turned at the sound of another voice cutting in. And there stood, in all of her lordly, saviour glory, Natsumi fresh from the market sales. Natsumi looking imposing carting around stacks on stacks of boxes of mysterious bulk buy products.

"Natsumi?" Akira queried, just to confirm. She still felt the twinge of guilt at the memory of how they had last parted.

She kicked Mochida at his mutter of 'it's the crazy woman'.

"You bet your sweet ass, Akira-dear." Natsumi huffed, patting her cart of goods proudly. "You're a secret agent, and what kind of secret agent are you if you don't have a Q to provide you with the cool gadgets? There can only be success for this mission!"

She felt just that bit emotional again. Someone still believed in her skills as a Agent Matchmaker.

"Senpai!" Akira cried, throwing her arms out dramatically.

"Kouhai!" Natsumi reciprocated with equal gusto.

They dissolved into an embrace of hearty backslaps and grateful kidney jabs.

Mochida edged away from their mortifying display. Before he could voice his derisive thoughts, someone else did it for him.

"Oh get a room! Shit!"

Seiji's was at once subjected to two pairs of frigid, unimpressed stares.

"Oh what the hell are you doing here?" Akira snapped irritably. She had started to associate only negative implications with that grinning mug. "I thought you left already."

"Well, me being the kind-hearted soul I am-" loud scoffs met his statement, "ended up helping a lovely lady from getting roughhoused in a rather intense half-price sale. Imagine my surprise when I found out said lady was the mother of dear friend I knew."

As if on cue, her mother's smiling face popped out from behind the redhead.

"Hello, Ki-chan-!" she beamed, before breaking off, "Whoops, I mean Agent Matchmaker!"

Akira quickly reached around Seiji and pulled her mother to her side, bristling at the guffaw he elicited at her codename.

"You should stay away from shady figures like him, Mum."

"I'm hurt."

"Oh? But if it weren't for this nice, young man, I wouldn't have been able to get half the groceries I did!" Nana said cheerily.

Seiji smiled smugly. Akira sneered brilliantly back.

Her sidekick was rubbing off on her.

"How's the mission going by the way?" her mother inquired, craning her neck to catch a glimpse of where her brother and his date was. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to help when you called me before, I hope nothing went wrong."

"Oh no, nothing happened, Mum." she assured quickly. Her suave and dignified spy persona was to be preserved at all costs.

She ignored Mochida's incredulous look.

"What happened to your face, Ki-chan?"

She was lucky her sunhat was there to hide the reddening of her ears. She slapped a hand over the tonfa-end-shaped discolouration of her jaw.

"Just a slight compromise in the name of success." Akira played it off, cool as an ice cube.

Mochida's scoff and the red devil's snort informed her otherwise. She cleared her throat gruffly.

"So Natsumi, what's the plan?"

At this, the pixie haired woman fixed her with a look so sharp and intellectually befitting of a Q, it had goose bumps raising on her skin. She ripped open one of the boxes, revealing tubs and tubs of something.

 _"Hair gel."_

* * *

"Oh my- Ki-chan you look-"

"Holy _shit!_ "

Raucous laughter.

"Put the shades on her, put the shades on her!"

The laughter escalated.

"Take them off! Shit- take them off!"

SNAP.

Akira twitched at the flash of Seiji's camera phone going off, expression darkening. But her scowl only added to the comical effect her appearance was having on them.

"Shit- I've got to send this to Koutarou!"

" _Red, fuc-!"_ she remembered her mother's presence and restrained herself from swearing just in time. " _Kindly_ , piss off."

" _Ki-chan!_ " she was reprimanded anyway.

Seiji's phone chimed.

"Oh, he replied! Let's see..." he peered down at the screen. "Tell li'l boss that she looks like Boss. Ha! Shit you really do!"

Perhaps she did in that moment resemble their late boss Atsushi. Sporting his signature, half-assed slicked back hair (courtesy of copious amounts of hair gel), a candy cig hanging from her lips, a drawn on scar on her cheek, fake stubble and scowl marring her face- she looked more delinquent yakuza than ever. And it was all thanks to Natsumi.

"It's pretty cool right?" she chirped. "You suit the role perfectly!"

"Thanks, Natsumi." Akira said wryly. "Remind me why I look like this again?"

"Okay so the plan is," she slung an arm around her shoulders, drawing her in conspiratorially. "You will pose as a typical delinquent of the streets-"

"Which holy shit do you look like!" Seiji chortled.

"-and approach your brother and start harassing and antagonising his date. If all goes well, your brother will play the hero and defend her- this is the point where you pretend to be defeated- resulting in instant points in her book and a confidence boost."

" _If_ all goes well..." Akira mumbled doubtfully, she glanced over to Mochida. "Why couldn't he have done it? He's got the perfect face."

"You look fucking lame." he merely spat.

"Oh shush Akira-dear!" Natsumi, urged her lightly. "Quick, they're approaching! Let's see that delinquent sneer."

She did so with reluctance. The response was lukewarm.

"I know you've got those eye bags working in your favour, but you need to put a bit more effort into it." Seiji said.

"Yeah, use the red-haired asshole's face as motivation."

She did so, twisting her face into a sneer of such pure contempt and ire Seiji wisely backed away.

"Alright!" Natsumi cheered. "Now go get them Agent Matchmaker!"

"Good luck Ki-chan!" her mother called.

She was pushed out of the alley with scowl still cemented on her face. Right into the path of her brother and his date.

Tsuna locked up at once. Kyoko paused. Akira froze.

Did she mention she was a poor performer under pressure?

"Shit- yo! Uh- hey pretty girl!" she fumbled awkwardly over her words, her scowl the only thing decent about her act. "Why don't you um- ditch that dumb dude and uh- hang out with me!"

Behind her, there was a collective face-palm.

"What kind of insult is that?! Is she still in elementary school?!" Mochida hissed.

Nana frowned.

"That wasn't very nice of her."

But it seemed that they hadn't needed to worry about her less than mediocre performance. Her brother still traumatised from the day's incidents, was so highly strung that the mere sight of her face and appearance had sent him into full-blown panic mode.

With his screech of terror, Akira found herself doubling over when he lashed out hysterically, nailing her in the solar plexus with his bony, prepubescent elbow.

She was keeling over on her knees before she knew it and her brother wasted no time grabbing his crush by the arm and hightailing it away from the crime scene. Not a single thought to the idea that he might have just brutally KO'ed his caring older sister.

Akira thought, with the cold kiss of boot-sullied sidewalk against her cheek, it was all in the name of the family.

Then she promptly retched the contents of her stomach all over the pavement.

* * *

Tsuna returned home late in the afternoon, with a skip in his step and a stupidly happy smile on his face.

Akira raised her head limply from the dining table at the sound of his poor but chipper whistling. He paused at the deathly stare he was fixed with.

"You look like you had a nice time." she said dully.

Tsuna scuffed his foot bashfully, wringing his hands with a giggle.

"W-well I guess, I had fun hanging out with Kyoko-chan." he beamed dazedly.

"I see."

She watched him bound away up the stairs, humming a sickeningly upbeat tune the whole way.

Her head dropped back to the table with a thunk, a pitiful moan escaping her.

 _"Never again."_

Mission Success.

 **A/N hey look who's still alive... ha.**

 **well, look forward to the next chapter (it'll be up in the next decade or so) because we've reached the peak of the metaphorical drug induced high and it'll be going spectacularly downhill from hill.**

 **once again, thank you for making the mistake of reading this scrub of a writer's fic.**


	12. Chapter 10: Precipice I

**A/N Yes, an author's note at the beginning. But GODDAMN its for a good reason. I log on to FF net one morning and what do I find? This fic's broken 100 on faves and follows. PRAISE THE LORD, it's a 100 double whammy. And for that reason I'm giving all you beautiful bastards a double upload, because you all deserve it dammit.**

 **Without further ado, this is Part 1 of the 100 Double Whammy Double Upload.**

 **Chapter 10**

It was disorientating. The way you could be riding out a optimistic high just from just yesterday, only to wake up next morning feeling like the world's snapped shut on you.

Only for her, you couldn't really call it waking up.

She came to with a start, greeted faithfully by taunting red glare of an all too familiar set of flashing numbers.

 _3:03 am_

Which meant she'd been staring blankly at her equally blank ceiling for three whole hours now. Not one wink of sleep.

It was going to be a unpleasant day, that's for certain. She knew it from her first inhale of the dreary edge the air had seemingly taken on overnight.

She spent a moment laying limply on her bed with that tell-tale dull weight in her chest. Her head lolled to the side to lifelessly stare out of the window.

 _There's no sun,_ she thought.

The brunette stared for what felt like a good, long while. Let her mind blank.

 _3:03 am_

Not even a minute. Time passed differently for the sleep deprived.

Insomnia messed with one's senses. Sometimes reality mixed with the dream-like daze, until it became an looping, incoherent blur.

Until it became a looping, incoherent blur.

She sighed, swung her legs off the edge of the bed and sat up. Gravity pulled at the bags beneath her eyes. There was no use lying around for sleep that wouldn't come. She smacked her lips.

Water sounded nice.

So it was with pops and clicks of her joints that she wholeheartedly stretched and stood up. Traversing the darkened room was easy, it was rarely bright when she 'woke'. There's no sun.

Akira paused. What was she doing again?

She smacked her lips. Right. Water.

She made to move, only to jam her toe on the corner of her bedside table at the first step. Akira dropped like a stone, clutching the thoroughly murdered appendage with watering eyes.

"Oh come on!" she groaned wearily, slumping into the tatami.

It was going to be a bad day indeed.

* * *

She blinked.

"Sawada-san?"

Akira straightened, chin lifting from her hand and dazedly met the expectant stares of her classmates and teacher. She glanced down to find the familiar bland print of a textbook on her desk.

Right, she was in English class.

"Oh- uh, sorry Sato-sensei." she said ducking her head. She rose from her seat with book in hand. He must have called on her to dictate, so she did so.

For some reason, when she finished, she was met with the stifled snickers of her class. Even Sato-sensei was smiling wryly at her from behind his spectacles.

"Excellent pronunciation as always, Sawada-san." he praised, but the twinkle in his eyes alluded to more. "Unfortunately, I didn't call on you to dictate, I was merely checking whether our star student was alright."

"Oh," Akira uttered lamely. "Right."

She cleared her throat gruffly and sat back down to save herself from further embarrassment, wishing her beanie was there to hide her reddening ears. Sadly, despite Namimori High being thankfully free of the tyranny that was Hibari Kyouya and his Committee, a certain level of compliance and maturity to school rules and uniform regulations was expected.

A stray giggle had her attention drifting to the girl at her neighbouring table.

Ayane, or was it Ayumi, was laughing daintily into her hand. A rather bell-like and pleasant sound that had Akira launching into one of her many, sleep-deprived, internal ramblings.

It had her noticing just how much this Ayane-Ayumi contrasted with her. The girl's face had her marvelling at how fresh one was capable of looking with just few extra hours of sleep. Ayane-Ayumi had that radiant and bright complexion.

Akira had that deathly eye shadow called eye bags.

She had silky, soft locks that framed her heart shaped face

Hers was a snarled, short rats-nest atop her head.

Slender manicured hands. Weathered, blunt-cut fingernails. Neat, curve-hugging uniform. Rumpled, ribbon-less, upturned collar. Her dainty charm bracelet. Her bright, shining eyes. Refreshing face. Pristine appearance-

Akira broke off that depressing train of thought.

Ayane-Ayumi was looking her way. Dear lord, even her questioning smile was mockingly bright and fresh. It pained her. She twitched an awkward grimace of a smile back.

She had a feeling she had weirded the girl out.

Akira pressed the heel of her palm into her bloodshot eyes, slumped behind her textbook and waited for the lesson to end.

* * *

It wasn't until lunch time until something interesting enough snapped her back out of her sleep-deprived stupor.

She had been listlessly blowing air into an empty juice-box while trudging down the school corridors when someone abruptly emerging from the classroom almost caused a collision. And that someone was no other than Ayane-Ayumi.

She recognised those bright and absurdly lively doe eyes immediately. Akira watched them widen with surprise, then soften with courtesy.

"Sawada-san." the girl greeted warmly.

And because Akira was still debating on Ayane-Ayumi's name, she settled with a polite 'hello'.

They teetered for a while, an awkward silence blooming between them that neither knew how to break. But Ayane-Ayumi was thankfully significantly less socially inept than she was.

"Would you perhaps like to eat lunch with us?" she inquired, "I couldn't help but notice that you've been sitting alone since the start of this year."

Akira was pleasantly surprised. The fact that she usually sat by herself at school didn't bother her, but it was quite thoughtful of this Ayane-Ayumi to go out of her way to offer such an invitation to the creeper who'd been staring up a storm at her just a few classes ago.

But she doubted she'd make enjoyable company for the girl's group of friends in her current delirious state.

"That's uh, nice of you." Akira said, rubbing at the back of her neck. "But I'd just intrude and make things awkward. So thanks, but that's okay."

"Oh. Maybe next time then."

"Maybe."

She scuffed her foot, debating whether the silence this time was her cue to leave and get on with her usual school-day routines. Akira scratched at her cheek, making to move away when the girl spoke again.

"So... what was up with you staring at me during class?"

The brunette froze, a nervous laugh escaping her. She doubted Ayane-Ayumi wanted to hear about her sporadic, low-key self-esteem issues, so she played it off.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't actually staring at you really." she said, "I'm just really sleep deprived and it makes me go into dazes occasionally."

Ayane-Ayumi's frown lightened at once, and she was back to her unfairly chipper self.

"Oh okay. That's good." the girl laughed in relief. "For a moment I thought that you were... well, like that older girl you used to hang out with. You know, the one who graduated last year, Mihara Narumi or something."

"Natsumi." Akira corrected absently. She could feel herself slipping back into an insomnia induced stupor.

"Yeah her, the one who spent the entirety highschool chasing after girl's skirts-" _so tired_ "- I mean thank god, for a moment I thought you were turning out to be a creep like her."

So tired- wait what?

Akira's muddled thoughts careened to a violent halt, and she squinted uncomprehendingly at girl before her. Did she hear right?

But Ayane-Ayumi's angelic face hadn't so much as twitched from its radiance. She stared for a moment longer before limply shaking her head.

Must've been her insom-

"Frankly, she was disgusting. I'm glad she's gone, aren't you?"

-no it wasn't. Oh, no it _wasn't_.

"What?"

Sheer incredulity sheared a path through the muddled haze of her sleep-deprived mind. Dimly, she was aware of her mouth curling sharply to reflect the flare of irate disbelief. And it was through heavy, lidded eyes that she caught Ayane-Ayumi's hesitate, and her seemingly infallible peppiness falter.

But before Akira could make to do anything further in her incoherent, emotion-driven bout, a stern voice cut in.

 _"Sawada-san."_

Akira stopped with a start, blinking the blur out of her eyes.

It was Wada-sensei, calmly bearing down on them in all his slightly-balding and fatherly authority. She straightened upon identifying the man, gathering enough of her wits about her to stoop into polite bow.

"Sir." she greeted, and out of the corner of her eye, caught Ayane-Ayumi doing the same.

"Itami-san." Wada-sensei acknowledged the spirited, albeit now slightly shaken girl before turning to Akira with a firm smile. "I hope you don't mind me taking Sawada-san here away for a bit?"

"Not at all sir." the girl replied all too willingly.

A stray voice of 'suck-up' drifted briefly across her mind. Akira watched her retreat back into the classroom, and even in retreat was she chipper.

"Sawada-san." the man prompted.

The brunette complied and fell in line with him as he set a leisurely pace through the halls.

"I see that you still need to keep that temper in check, Akira-san." he commented after a few seconds of quiet.

"Yes sir." Akira confirmed lightly, wishing her skirt had pockets to stick her hands into. They felt awkward swinging limply around at her sides.

"I also see that you're suffering from crippling sleep-deprivation, as usual."

"Yes sir." she exhaled heartily at his wry smile.

"So what did Itami-san do back there to get you riled up?"

Itami-san. Well, she had a last name, but still couldn't for the love of god figure out her first.

"Nothing much," too tired to make an effort at dobbing, she played it off, "just didn't like the way she was talking about a friend of mine."

"I see." he hummed. "Well Emiko-san sure looked terrified."

Akira paused.

"Who?"

Wada-sensei in turn, paused also.

"Emiko-san?"

She stared blankly.

"From back there, Itami Emiko-san?" he explained, voice taking on an unsure edge at her deeply furrowed brows.

It took a minute for her sleep-starved brain to catch up.

"Right." she said. Ayane-Ayumi was neither an Ayane nor Ayumi, but in fact, an Emiko.

Close enough.

They continued to walk in a pleasant silence, stopping only for her to chuck her empty juice box in a bin. Akira swore that if they remained quiet any longer, she was going to fall into a stupor again. And as if sensing her thoughts, Wada-sensei made some small talk again.

"So, how's your work experience going?" he inquired, "You're working at that ramen stall right?"

"Yes, in the kitchen now. Which is an upgrade, I work there part-time and I only ever did deliveries."

"Are you enjoying it?"

"Yes sir."

* * *

Akira started.

A stray splash of oil sizzled against her hand.

"Sawada! Where's the order of tonkatsu?" the impatient call of her boss sounded loud and clear.

"Right away, Boss!"

She was quickly spurred into motion, straining out the noodles and ladling it into a waiting bowl. She spooned out the requested broth, slapped on the toppings and sent the bowl out front. It was all muscle memory, done subconsciously.

Disorientated was an understatement. Akira swore she had been chatting indulgingly to Wada-sensei just a moment ago, but somehow she was now in the sweltering heat of the cramped kitchen she knew to be her workplace.

She really needed to sleep.

"Sawada! Order of tonkatsu!"

But work was not a place where she could.

Akira went through the familiar motions of boiling the noodles again. Hadn't she already served a tonkatsu ramen? Then she shrugged.

It was always muddled sense of screwed up, false déjà vu on days like these.

* * *

"Thanks for your hard work, Sawada!"

The brunette bowed a farewell to her boss. Work had drained her, but considering she had gotten through her shift without messing up majorly, she was quite content.

"Thanks for having me!" she returned earnestly.

"You've been a big help with the shop." the hearty man praised warmly. "Once this work experience of yours is over, I can guarantee you that there's a place for you in my kitchen. That's if you'd like to continue to work here of course!"

Once she registered his words fully, Akira was pleasantly surprised. Enough to make the fuzz around her mind clear for a moment.

"Thank you sir!" She bent into a deeper, more whole-hearted bow that hid just how chuffed she was from her boss. "I truly appreciate it!"

"Good! Good!" the man nodded approvingly before waving a dismissive hand at her. "Now go on. I'll see you tomorrow."

With another farewell and thanks, she pushed off on her bike feeling that much lighter. But not even three revolutions on the pedal later, she felt the anticipated insomnia-induced headache pound against her temples.

She truly couldn't find it in herself to be surprised.

* * *

She blinked.

The school bell chimed.

A jarring sound that scraped at the already raw edges of her mind. But it returned to her a much needed sense of time. School was over.

She yawned, a jaw-breaking yawn that did nothing to alleviate the marrow-deep exhaustion that plagued her still. And like the living dead, she peeled herself from her sleep and trudged her way out of the classroom with the rest of the throng. But backtracked not a moment later as she remembered her bag was still at her desk.

Insomnia, must you torment me so?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, a sudden spell of creativity enlightened her.

 _My sole dream in life is to be able to dream._

Akira pursed her lips, impressed with her fatigued mind's philosophical genius. She would have to make sure to write the quote down. It would make for quite the badass superhero line.

She flipped her phone open, scrolling listlessly through her meagre contacts and stopping on the one she was looking for. She brought it to her ear and waited.

"Yo, Tsuna."

 _"Akira-nee? Wow you sound even worse than yesterday."_

"I feel even worse." she quipped with a groan. "Need me to pick you up?"

 _"You sure?"_

"Of course. No guarantee I won't spontaneously collapse on the way though."

 _"Uh, I'd rather you not then."_

Akira snorted, unchaining her bicycle and wheeling it from the shed.

"I'm joking. I wish I could collapse spontaneously. Maybe I'd finally get some sleep."

When she arrived at Nami-Middle however, it wasn't her brother's perpetual bed-head that greeted her but a certain raven-haired prefect's steely stare.

Her brother, was cowering unsurely off to the side, behind the teen.

"Kyouya." she greeted unsurely.

And after a tense moment, Hibari nodded tersely.

"Herbivore." and said nothing more.

Once she had affirmed that she had not unknowingly incited his wrath and would not be on the receiving end of his tonfas of justice, Akira turned to Tsuna.

"Ready to go, Tsuna?"

He nodded fervently, eager to get away from the oppressive presence Hibari always seemed to exude in spades. He cautiously inched around the prefect, taking care to take the give him the widest berth possible, before scurrying to Akira's side.

He subtly urged her to pedal, to get away from the volatile prefect before he could deem the peace to be broken. But just as Akira put on foot on the pedal to do so, the prefect spoke again.

"Herbivore."

Both Sawada siblings turned at the call. His preferred form of address could have applied to anyone in the school courtyard. But it was Akira he was staring down.

"I will not be attending on Friday." he informed brusquely, and swept away with all the grandiose of the Great Leader he was.

Running on the fumes of a mere one hour of restless sleep, his vague words flew right over the brunette's head. Hell, she didn't even know what day it was today. She scratched the side of her face blankly. Her head might as well have been stuffed with cotton, as it offered her cognitive function whatsoever.

"What was that about?" Tsuna inquired meekly.

She could only manage a boneless shrug before pushing off.

"The Committee didn't need you to stay after school today?" Akira asked, once she was sure the bike was at a steady enough pace and wouldn't tip over precariously.

"No. There's a bit of cold going around, and a lot of the DC have caught it." the relief and happiness in her brother's tone was apparent. "Which means they haven't been up for doing their usual crazy things. So there's nothing for me to record."

"Huh...-whoops!"

Akira swerved just in time to avoid an elderly woman hobbling down the street. Tsuna shrieked and clutched onto her shoulders for dear life. He was beginning to severely regret up her offer of a free ride home.

"W-what about you?" the close shave had her brother stuttering, "Anything good happen?"

Akira had to think for a moment. Then she brightened ever so slightly in remembrance.

"Well..." and she could not keep how chuffed she was from colouring her voice. "The boss of the ramen stall I work at offered me a permanent place there after work experience."

"...you told us that last night at dinner Akira-nee." Tsuna informed hesitantly, ever the one to tread carefully around one's feelings.

"Oh." she scrunched her nose, finding no recollection of doing so. "I did?"

"Yeah," Tsuna eyed his sister with mild concern. "you must really be tired, huh?

Her only response was to exhale dully and slump across the handlebars of the bicycle. He snickered lightly, only to pale not a second later.

"WATCH OUT FOR THAT POLE!"

"Oh shit-!

* * *

Akira started.

And almost lopped off her finger with the kitchen knife.

She stared dumbly as it started spouting a mini fountain of blood. Swearing under her breath, she stuck the finger in her mouth and dug around her apron pockets for one of the many band-aids she kept on herself for situations like these.

Insomnia: 692, Akira: nil.

"Sawada! Where's the order of shoyu?" her boss was like clockwork.

"Right away, Boss!"

Slapping a band-aid over her wound, she took up the knife again. This time, with her full attention on the task, she finished slicing the toppings in record time, quickly layered them on the awaiting bowl and served it up.

Then she groaned, popping the build-up of fatigue in her joints. The heat of the kitchen did nothing to help her focus through her dry eyes and six tonne eye-bags.

Was it Wednesday already?

"Welcome!" her boss' hearty cry had her reflexively echoing as well.

"Welcome!"

"Akira-san, I see you're hard at work."

It was Wada-sensei, fresh from school, judging from the brief case and work clothes.

"What happened to your eye?" he inquired curiously.

Akira gingerly touched a hand to the black-eye in question.

"Oh, I ran into a pole yesterday." she said, before pausing. Had it been yesterday? "...I think."

"I see..." Wada-sensei hummed. "You should be more careful."

"Sawada! Order of shoyu!"

The brunette slumped, excusing herself to hastily comply with the order. Strain the noodles, ladle the broth, add the toppings and serve. Strain the noodles ladle the broth, check the stove, add the toppings and serve.

Return to patiently waiting teacher.

"Busy day?"

"Far from the worst." Akira replied, "Sure feels like it though."

"Ah, your insomnia." he made a noise of sympathy. "I've always wondered, what is it exactly like?"

She struggled to form an adequate response to fully encompass the miserable hell she was experiencing. So she settled with a bleak explanation of,

"Like there's no end." She wiped down the counter, and looked at him. "So what would you like?"

"I think I'll have the shoyu ramen, thank you."

With insomnia, everything felt like a looping, incoherent blur.

She resigned herself to yet again the same motions of serving the requested order.

Was it Wednesday already?

She sighed.

With insomnia, everything felt like a looping, incoherent blur.

* * *

 _1 New Message from Natsumi_

 _insomnia still harassing u? b4 u ask how i know, u sent me pictures of dogs at 4 in the morning. don't wrry, u didn't wake me. i was busy cleaning up koutarou's mess, the idiot went out looking 4 trouble in some gang's territory. came bk messed up._

 _maybe 2night u'll be lucky. u've gone what? 4 nights without z's?_

* * *

 _1 New Message from Akira-dear_

 _5 now._

* * *

"Akira-san."

Said brunette was getting really tired of being jerked back to reality. But when she realised she was staring down Wada-sensei's expectant face, she quickly straightened to attention apologetically.

"Sorry sir, what would you like to order?"

The man stared, before bursting out into amused laughter, much to her confusion. But then she took note of her surroundings. Instead of the steam-condensed and oil-shined walls of the kitchen she was expecting, it was the neat, calligraphy lined walls of Wada-sensei's office.

"Back to reality yet, Akira-san?" he inquired, eyes twinkling.

"Yes sir." she finally said, ducking her head apologetically. Then she paused. "What am I here for again?"

Wada-sensei chuckled heartily again.

"We're discussing your future plans after school." he explained patiently. "This is, after all, your final term as a high school student."

"Right."

"I'll have to be honest with you," he started, folding his hands beneath his chin in a grave motion, "your attendance is frankly worrying. Although it hasn't reached the point where it is endangering your chances of graduating, it is certainly approaching it."

Akira stared down at her hands pensively.

It wasn't news to her. She knew all those unexplained absences would come to bite her in the ass one day. Poor decisions and hanging out with the wrong crowd. No matter how hard she tried to distance herself from the Momokyokai, nor how hard she denied the affiliations Koutarou persistently pushed upon her, the yakuza still found a way to subtly sabotage her.

Her jaw clenched, and it didn't go unnoticed by Wada-sensei.

"But it's not all bad news." he reassured. "Your grades are more than acceptable for you to graduate, you've made average in all of them- and you're excelling in Home Economics as usual, you've always had a knack for cuisine haven't you?"

"Something I inherited from my mother." Akira said.

"And not just Home Economics." he continued, "Sato-sensei has been telling me that you've become a natural at English."

"It's all thanks to your suggestion to watch all those foreign movies, sir."

He beamed at her with all the warmth of a proud teacher, which had her cracking a genuine smile. Wada-sensei had a way with understanding and bringing out his students' best attributes.

"I can't believe that the student I constantly told off for daydreaming in class is already well on her way to entering the world as a responsible adult." the man mused, leaning back in his chair.

"I sure don't feel any more mature than when I first entered Nami-High." Akira admitted.

"It's all a matter of perspective." he waved her off, "More importantly, I'm more interested in your ideas of what you want to do once you've graduated. Do you have any aspirations, any inkling of what you'd like to pursue for a career? Maybe even university?"

"No, I'd never survive in university." she dismissed easily, "You know I have a hard time sitting through lectures now sir, university is definitely not for me."

"I see." he matched her dismissal just as easily, "Then what would you like to do Akira-san?"

She fell silent, gathering her thoughts and fiddling with her thumbs for a moment. There was a dream, one that she'd been carefully nurturing from childhood once she'd realised being a superhero was impossible. One that she'd buried away during her time with the Momokyokai. One that was resurfacing now, through her fatigued mind, prompted by the encouraging look of her homeroom teacher.

She bit the inside of her cheek, and bowed her head. Deliberated.

When she looked back up again, all traces of fatigue had fled from her face, leaving only open earnestness.

"I want to be a chef." she said resolutely, "I want to travel the world, Asia, Europe- and I, I want to study culinary arts."

Wada-sensei leaned forward in his seat, listening attentively.

"I want to experience the different cultures and cuisine, and maybe share with the world ours too- food is a universal language after all."

"I can personally attest to that." he agreed, patting his rotund belly.

"Right?" she grinned. "Food's just something that makes people happy."

And the more she talked the more her eyes started to shine with animated, childish fervour.

"And maybe this is just a dream of mine, but I've always wanted to end up running my own restaurant." she continued, "You know, as head chef- thinking up my own menus, making new dishes, yelling in the kitchen. Hell- maybe even start a chain of restaurants across the world."

She broke off, as if remembering herself, and scratched her cheek self-consciously.

"But I don't know- it's just a dream I've had since I was little-"

"I think you can do it."

Surprised, Akira met Wada-sensei's entirely supportive smile. She scratched her cheek again. Then she laughed, a low, chuffed sound.

"But." he interjected, folding his arms sternly. "If you really want to get a culinary arts degree, you know what you're going to have to do first?"

She wisely straightened attentively.

"Sir?"

Wada-sensei, leaned forward, pushing a sheet of paper across the desk to her with a firm look. A future careers form.

"Clean up your attendance, young lady." he asserted, the corners of his mouth lifting wryly.

Akira ducked her head repentantly.

"I will." she emphasised, "From today, I won't miss another day of school. It's a promise, sir."

"Good." he nodded in satisfaction, "Now go on and get out of my office. You've wasted enough of my time already."

She grinned back at him, whole-heartedly dipping into a respectful bow.

"Thank you, sir."

When she arrived home, she was still riding out her pleased mood from school.

"I'm back." she called.

"Welcome back, Ki-chan." her mother poked her head out into the hallway with a smile.

"Is Tsuna not back yet?"

"No, he has Committee duties." Nana said, looking her eldest over, "You're looking much better today. Did you take a nap at school?"

Akira touched her face, bewildered, and noted that there was indeed a tug to her lips that certainly wasn't there this morning. Her insomnia felt much less acute.

"No." she finally replied, kicking off her shoes. "But-" she turned bright gaze to her mother, "my future careers interview went great. I've decided. I'm aiming to be a chef."

Nana's eyes widened, before shining with undisguised pride and love.

"That's wonderful." she breathed.

Akira grinned, and scaled the stairs to her room, her joy energising her enough to even take them two at a time.

And it was liberating.

She gazed contentedly down at the careers form in the comfort of her room. She would take vocational education, aim for a technical school and earn her degree there. But Wada-sensei was right, first things first, she needed to fix up her dismal attendance.

Pulling out her desk chair, she reached for a pen, fully set on filling out the form. For the first time since a long while, she could see her life path clearly mapped ahead of her. It was no longer just a insomnia-fuelled blur of repetitive routines.

But before she could put pen to paper, her phone chimed.

An event reminder.

She reached for her phone in confusion. She didn't remember having anything on this week. Akira flipped open the flashing device and stared curiously at the screen.

 _Event: Meeting tomorrow on Friday Nov. 13th for_ _ **A**_

It was like a slap to the face.

She felt her good mood leave her with an abruptness that left her reeling. The fatigue from her insomnia crashed back down upon her all at once, and its weight was no short of staggering.

She slumped back in her chair with a creak, phone hanging limply from her fingers and tipped her head back to appraise the ceiling dully.

 _Ah,_ she thought, I'll be breaking my promise to Wada-sensei already.

 _'I think you can do it.'_

In a fit of emotion, she kicked out and doubled over her desk, burying her head between her elbows and fisting her hair forcefully. Frustration burned hot in her throat.

Exhale.

Inhale-

 _"...fuck!"_


	13. Chapter 11: Precipice II

**A/N This is Part 2 of the 100 Double Whammy Double Upload. (I'm still crying btw)**

 **Chapter 11**

Akira was in a weird mood today.

Nana knew this in the way her eldest almost burned the eggs and then proceeded to now pick half-heartedly at her breakfast with a distant look upon her face.

This was from a person who she'd taught every trick in the cookbook and impressed upon a passion for food as a privilege since she could walk. So it was safe to say Akira was not herself this morning.

She gave her daughter five more seconds of poking around her plate and staring off into space before deciding to speak up.

"Ki-chan." she called.

Akira blinked as if stirring from a slumber, before turning inquiringly to her call.

Nana merely looked meaningfully towards her eldest's meal. She followed her gaze and finally noticed that her omelette had all but been reduced to saucy, scrambled paste.

"Sorry." she said, quickly righting her chopsticks and with the length of it, scraped up what she could from the mess on her plate. But the strange mood that hung around her remained.

Nana frowned in worry, pausing in her own breakfast to think up a conversation that would lighten the atmosphere.

"But my, Ki-chan, if you're really aiming to be a professional chef, you would think one would know how to cook something as simple as eggs without trouble." she teased, expecting her eldest to leap at the window of opportunity provided to happily babble on about her renewed dream.

Instead, Akira had curiously stiffened at the mention, turning wide, almost pleading eyes upon her. It threw Nana for a loop. She watched her daughter eventually come to herself, and offer her a laugh and a grin that seemed all too forced.

"Yeah," she had said. "I guess."

And as if noticing her growing concern, Akira made a show of exuberantly draining her bowl of soup.

"The soup's great, mum!" the brunette exclaimed, "I've got a long way to go before I'm at your level."

And because her daughter obviously didn't want her worrying, Nana didn't pry. Instead she donned her best cheer and smile, pretending to be oblivious until Akira needed to confide.

"Only about a hundred years, dear." she quipped lightly.

Akira merely smiled wanly.

"Morning Mum, Akira-nee." Her youngest's arrival was punctuated with the customary yawn and stumble on the stairs down.

Nana perked up at his arrival, sensing another chance to perhaps brighten Akira's mood. But she wasn't given the opportunity to discreetly clue Tsuna in on the situation, her eldest had perked up at his arrival too.

"Tsuna." she called, standing abruptly and making her around the table to the still sleep-bleary teen. "Hey, you-uh still have that good luck charm thing I gave you?"

Tsuna stifled another yawn in favour of blinking uncomprehendingly up at his sister. Nana watched their exchange curiously.

"Good luck charm?" he repeated drowsily.

"Yeah, the one I gave you on your first day of Committee duties." Akira prompted, "It was a wooden plaque thing, with an engraved symbol."

"Plaque...? Oh man, you know I'm bad at thinking in the mornings..." he ruffled his hair and scrunched his brows in thought. Then his expression cleared in remembrance. "Oh! That! Yeah-" he started digging around the pockets of his uniform's trousers, until he managed to procure the fist-sized wooden object in question. "This right? Here you go."

He tipped it into her palm, and Nana watched her absently thumb the engraved picture.

"Thanks."

"You know, I'm not too sure that it actually gave me good luck, considering the things I've gone through." he said, "but the carving's pretty. It's a cherry blossom right?"

"Peach." she corrected, expression unreadable. "Peach blossom."

Tsuna squinted through sleep crusted eyes at the engraving of the stylised blossom.

"Oh right. Momo. Peach." He nodded in realisation at the telltale inked kanji. "Momokyokai."

The dish slipped out of her soapy hands, clattering against the sink. They turned at the noise. It was Tsuna's cue to remember to eat breakfast and for Akira to clear away hers.

"I'll get it." Akira said, laying her dishes into the sink and urging her mother to sit back down.

She did so with a smile, but her eyes were still tinged with worry.

"Are you walking to school with Kyoko-chan today again, Tsu-kun?"

Tsuna choked on his swallow of soup. And through his spluttering, and reddening face, shot her a betrayed look.

"Mum! Why would you tell about that?!" he cried, shooting frantic and worried glances at his sister's back.

Such a statement was just asking for Akira to starting teasing him. Nana laughed mirthfully.

"Good for you, Tsuna." her eldest said, clapping him on the back as she made her way out into the hallway. "I'll be going now."

Tsuna stared suspiciously after her. Nana worried her lip, before standing and following her.

"Ki-chan." she called, unable to keep herself quiet.

Akira glanced up curiously from where she was kicking on her shoes.

"You're alright, right?"

Her eldest blinked in surprise and her mouth parted slightly, as if debating what to say. Then Nana watched her shake her head, and attempt to smile reassuringly.

"Sure. I'm fine." she said, and at her unsure look added more sincerely, "I'll be better once today's over."

Tsuna, hearing the curious exchange, poked his head into the hallway inquiringly.

"I'll be going then."

"Okay..." she could only say, offering a smile that felt lacking, "Be safe."

The door shut, and Nana sighed.

"Ah." Tsuna exclaimed, making her start, "Akira-nee wasn't wearing her uniform."

* * *

Mochida Kensuke received the text as he was preparing to head off to school.

 _1 New Message from That Red-haired Dude_

He swore, ruffling his hair in annoyance. Since his brother had pushed him to start hanging around the red-haired man and his rag-tag bunch of lackeys, he found himself being dragged into their shenanigans more often than he liked.

It was a school day today as well.

He grumbled under his breath to himself a bit more, just for the sake of it, before switching his schoolbag for his more casual sports bag. It was just a reason to skip school anyway.

At the sound of him opening the shoe cabinet, his older brother popped up to send him off.

"You're going, Kensuke?" he inquired.

He had to admit, it still threw him to see his brother without his signature slick-back and piercings. Ever since the incident at his school, it seemed his brother had had a change of heart and had returned to pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor. Now he dressed neatly and even wore the glasses he detested so much before.

Kensuke grunted a confirmation, stooping to tie his shoe laces.

"Wait-" Kenji narrowed his eyes at the teen, "Why aren't you taking your schoolbag? Are you skipping school again?"

Kensuke scowled. And ever since his brother's image change, his nagging was incessant.

"Yeah." he affirmed nonchalantly.

" _Kensuke._ " his brother intoned, the disapproval clear in his voice, "When I said I was going to be a proper role model for you from now on, I meant it. So I'm not going be so lenient anymore when it comes to things like this. School is vital for your future-"

"-Yeah, yeah!" he snapped, "I get it! God damn, you're starting to sound like our mother. You know I'm only skipping school because the group you insisted me join told me to!"

Kenji paused.

"Oh." he said, expression lightening, "Well if it's friend that's telling you to, then I'm sure it's important. Take care and stay safe then!"

He fixed his brother with an incredulous stare. Then he clicked his tongue.

"Whatever."

He slammed the door behind him as he left, flipping open his phone and pulling up the address and map he'd been sent.

"Why the hell does he want me to go to a shitty-ass, seedy shrine for?" he muttered, "And when the hell did Namimori have another shrine other than Namimori Shrine?"

He punted a stray can and cursed the respect he still harboured for his brother for getting him into this hassle.

But man did he thank him for his free and easy ticket out of school.

* * *

Tsuna shifted in his position at Nami-Middle's front gates, absently tapping his pen against his clipboard. It was the D.C's routine uniform check-up, and as their record-keeper it was his duty to jot down the names of any offenders.

And so far there had been three unfortunate souls on the waiting list for discipline, exacted by none other than their Great Leader.

The subject of uniform had his thoughts inevitably wandering to this morning again. It was baffling to say the least, the way his sister had let a chance to tease him over his 'love life' go so easily. With a congratulations no less. He shuddered at the thought.

It was so out of character.

"New guy!"

Tsuna glanced up at Sawamura's ecstatic call. Most likely he had caught another unfortunate offender.

"Look at what I found!"

And sure enough, there the regent-haired teen was, with a student dangling from his fist by the back of his blazer. The poor first-year looked rightly terrified.

"A first-year! Cocky enough to waltz onto school grounds missing his tie!" Sawamura boomed, lifting the student to eye-level and staring him down with all the charisma of a back-alley thug. "He's just asking for discipline ain't he, boys?"

A chorus of 'hear, hear' resounded from the congregation of D.C members currently on uniform duty. Tsuna merely laughed nervously.

"P-p-please! I spilled soup on it and it's still in the w-w-wash!" the first-year pleaded. "Have mercy!"

"Not a chance!" Sawamura easily shot him down, "New guy! You know what to do!"

Tsuna took one look at the first-year's teary eyed face and immediately felt sympathy for kindred spirit. Before he became a D.C member, he too knew the oppressive tyranny of the Committee too well.

"But Sawamura-san, what if he's telling the truth?" he reasoned.

At this, his senior paused in thought. Only to bounce back a moment later.

"Doesn't matter. He will face justice at the hands of Chairman." he declared brusquely, "Tell us your name and class, and you better not lie or we'll know!"

So with great reluctance the brunet scribbled down the sobbing first-year's details.

He wondered if his sister's strange mood and actions had something to do with her insomnia. But then again, in past instances, even at her worst when sleep-deprived she had found it in herself to harass him. It even rejuvenated her.

Tsuna furrowed his brows in serious thought.

Maybe an imposter? A robot sent to infiltrate their household?

He quickly squashed that train of thought, snorting at how ridiculous he was being.

"Herbivore."

Tsuna froze.

"Why are you laughing."

"HIEE! F-f-f-f-forgive m-me C-Chairman!" He immediately shrieked, rapidly dissolving into a flurry of repentant, mercy-pleading bows. "It w-wasn't my intention to s-s-slack off on d-duty!"

He was treated to a full ten seconds of the raven-haired prefect's calculating stare, in which his knees would not stop knocking together, before he was given a short nod.

"Do not let it happen again."

Tsuna nodded all too gratefully, and turned back to his duties with his mind now whole-heartedly on the task at hand. He was lucky to have gotten off with a mere warning.

"Herbivore."

Or so he thought. With returning fear and trepidation, he turned at the prefect's call.

"Y-yes, Chairman?"

He was once again met with their considering look, and began to sweat when the silence drew out. Then the prefect finally spoke.

"Your sister," he said, causing Tsuna to blink in surprise, "did she skip school today?"

What mild shock he felt at Hibari Kyouya of all people inquiring after his sister was swamped by the greater terror of the prefect somehow knowing that she had broken school rules. He paled at the thought of what would happen to his sister in the name of discipline if he dobbed her in. As a brother, he couldn't bring such a fate upon her.

But his tense silence and expression told the prefect everything. Steely-eyes narrowed.

"I see." he said.

And Tsuna began to pray for his sister's well-being, but the raven-haired teen's next words had him pausing in curiosity.

"So she went." the prefect shook his head in disappointment. "This is why she'll always be a herbivore. She lets sentiment tie her down."

Then he swept away with billow of his gakuran, leaving Tsuna with his confused thoughts.

His sister was alright, right?

* * *

When Kensuke had called the place he was to meet up at seedy, he hadn't truly meant it. It was only in the heat of the moment. He didn't intend for the statement to turn out to be actually true.

Now, as he was valiantly locked in a sneer-off in a dingy alley with three thugs who were by no means mere delinquent posers, he made a note to ease off on his potty mouth in the future.

"Looks like a little kid's gotten lost." the one with the sneering mug closest to his taunted derisively, "What's wrong? Did you get separated from your mummy, boy?"

It elicited snickers from his buddies.

His own scowl didn't falter in face of this, but he didn't do anything further to retaliate either. Although he might come off as the typical crass and rough delinquent student, he possessed sense to know not to needlessly provoke these men.

He knew when to fight his battles, and now wasn't the time.

"Just let me get on my way." he said, determinedly hiding the waver that threatened to choke his voice when he caught sight of the pocket knife one of the thugs was toying with. "I don't want any trouble."

His attempt at diffusing this rather worrying situation failed however when they burst into raucous laughter.

"You don't want any trouble?! the thug with the knife howled, shoulder checking him and pushing him back when he attempted to slip away, "That's adorable kid! But the moment you set foot in this place you were already in trouble. Don't you know where this is?"

"He probably thought this was a cool hangout for wannabe delinquent students." his friend grinned sharply.

Kensuke pressed his back against the graffitied bricks of the alley wall, feeling cold sweat break on his brow against his will as the thugs started to close in.

"Lemme tell you how wrong you are kid." the thug with the knife kept a bruising grip on his shoulder. "This is the red-light district equivalent for gangs, crime and everything big and bad- nothing like the little delinquent kiddie games you go around playing. And you've landed yourself right in the middle of it."

The thug pressed the flat of the knife lightly against his cheek, a gentle threat of hurt if he so much as moved wrongly.

"So, are you thinking of crying for your mummy yet?"

Kensuke felt his tongue grow thick with fear. His pupils shrank to pin-pricks as he tried to keep the knife point in sight. The pressure on his cheek increased-

 _"Oi."_

A four heads turned at the new voice.

At the mouth of the alley, steadily stalking towards them was figure that barely reached the shortest thug's chest when they came to a stop before them. But as unimpressive their slight stature was, the glower that simmered beneath the fold of their grey beanie certainly wasn't.

With a start, Kensuke recognised the arrival as none other than Dame-Tsuna's crazy sister and his presumed, unwilling mentor.

"Piss off." she said, with a jerk of her head to the alley's entrance in emphasis, "He's one of ours."

He barely stopped himself from gaping at her blasé attitude towards three men. They looked capable of crushing her with their thumbs alone for god's sake. She was definitely crazy.

The thugs thought so too, for in the face of such stupidity they immediately switched targets, leaving Kensuke against the wall to surround her.

"One of yours?" the thug with the knife was flipping the weapon before her face now, leering down at her incredulously. "And pray do tell, who is this 'yours'?"

At this, she let out a long-suffering sigh and from the pocket out her pants produced a wooden plaque no larger than her palm.

"Momokyokai." and the name, coupled with whatever emblem on the plaque she'd flashed them seemed to hold enough significance to make the thugs falter.

And as if knowing they would make no further move, she pocketed the object once more and made her way over to his still frozen form.

"Yo." she said, and he stared incredulously at the light-hearted greeting.

She clapped a hand on his back, making him jump and firmly steered him through the unsurely debating thugs.

Just as Kensuke felt they had managed to get through the worst of that predicament, they were stopped.

"Wait."

The thug with the knife had flung out his hand before them, blade skimming under Kensuke's with the action. He stared coldly down at them.

"Who said I was done with the kid?"

Kensuke swallowed.

"H-hey, man." one of his friends shifted apprehensively. "They're with the Momokyokai, what are you doing?"

The thug wasn't swayed, even going as far to spit contemptuously at their feet.

"So what?" he snapped, fixing them with a leer, "the Momokyokai's been worth fucking squat lately and you know it."

Kensuke looked nervously to his only ally in the situation and found them with brows furrowed deeply in irritation. The hand at his back clenched on his shirt and pulled him back behind her. He rubbed at his throat where his collar had dug into his skin, watching tensely as she strode fearlessly up to the thug, uncaring of the knife he brandished until they were nose to nose.

"You are welcome to try that statement." she intoned darkly, "But I suggest you listen to your friend. Considering what today means to us, I am not in the best of moods and neither is the rest of the Momokyokai. If you choose to cross us, today of all days, it will be the last mistake you'll make."

The thug glared back defiantly for a moment, before clicking his tongue and motioning towards his friends.

"Let's go. They're a waste of our time anyway."

Kensuke watched them disappear around the corner with bated breath. But the moment they were gone, it was surprisingly Dame-Tsuna's sister who exhaled in relief.

"I fucking hate bluffing." she groaned, sagging against the wall.

He stared in disbelief.

"You bullshit our way out of getting shanked?!" he spluttered.

"Not all of it was bullshit." she huffed, fixing him with a demanding stare, "Why the hell are you even wandering around this part of town?"

"Your red-headed friend told me to come here!"

She swore irritably under her breath, pushing off of the wall and gesturing impatiently for him to follow.

"Trust Seiji to get fucking outsiders involved in inside matters." she muttered.

"What's this Momokyokai those assholes were so scared of anyway?"

"A better question would be, why the hell are you wearing school uniform?" she eyed him over critically, "Ever heard of dressing for the occasion? Not to mention you're just asking to be recognised by these thugs."

He scowled at this.

"Your friend texted me just as I was leaving for school, and I wasn't even informed what the damn occasion was-"

She seemed to straighten in realisation at this.

"That's right, you should go back to school, get out of here." she urged, pointing a commanding finger at him, "This thing doesn't involve you. In fact, you shouldn't even be getting involved in this shit."

"What, by myself? And get jumped again? I'd rather stick with you." he snorted, rolling his eyes. "And you didn't answer my question, who the fuck are the Momokyokai?"

Her eyes narrowed, obviously conflicted on what course of action to take. Then she threw her hands up in resignation, rounding on him with a glower.

"The Momokyokai is the goddamn yakuza that controls this area." she said, "And the occasion? We're going to pay respects to their late leader's grave."

Kensuke's mind blanked.

What the fuck.

* * *

 _"Your daughter has been marked as absent without reason today, I'm just calling to inquire whether this was something you were aware of already..?"_

"No..."

 _"It is very regretful to say, but Sawada's number of unexplained has been worrying. In order to graduate from high-school there is a minimum quota for attendance and right now it's not looking good for her."_

"Yes, I understand. I'll be sure to talk to her about it. Thank you, good-bye"

Nana gripped the plastic handle of the phone receiver tightly before letting it drop loosely from her fingers to the table.

She was thoroughly at a loss. Just the other evening her daughter had eagerly announced her rekindled determination to pursue a culinary career. Yet now she was skipping school like she cared nothing for her education.

She found herself with brows knitted for the umpteenth time that day.

"Just what is that girl thinking?" Nana exhaled sharply in frustration, "When she gets back I'm going to give her a firm talking to!"

* * *

"Aneki."

He twitched.

"Aneki." another chorus.

He looked towards the back of the person these scarred and suited men so respectfully greeted with calls of 'sister', and found the owner much too underwhelming.

But what unsettled Kensuke more than being packed into a dilapidated, family-run shrine with mourning yakuza was seeing Sawada's sister, Akira taking it all in stride, as if she belonged right with them.

'Stay close to me', she had told him, 'don't wander off.'

From the furrowed brows and unnerving looks his presence was receiving, he wouldn't have strayed from her side even if she made him. He hated to admit it, but in this situation he was helpless and she was the sole barrier between him and all these hardened criminals.

Akira stopped to talk to a heavily tattooed man with a bulk and face reminiscent of a gorilla, and he, apparently valuing his life more than she did, obediently stayed behind her. The sombre-faced yakuza spared him only a curious glance.

"Akira-san." he greeted with a morose sigh, "You're here.

"Jin-san." she nodded, appraising him carefully and scratching her cheek unsurely, "How are you holding up?"

"Oh, you know..." he trailed off, lip quivering in a way so severely unsuited for a man of his stature, it made Kensuke stare. "as well as I can be, considering..."

As he caught the first signs of the man's eyes starting to water, Kensuke quickly took it as his cue to turn his attention from the conversation and to his surroundings.

It wasn't much of a difference, all around him were gruff-looking men mourning to some degree. It really made him wonder, to think that a crime lord could garner such emotional grief even a year after death. And he had once thought all gang and yakuza leaders commanded with mere fear and power.

On that thought, what had his brother been thinking? Handing him over to Yakuza of all people for 'proper education'.

He stared listlessly as a gust of wind blew another smattering of red and orange leaves to flutter onto the carpet already covering the shrine's courtyard.

He really didn't belong here.

"So who's the kid following you around?" Gorilla-man Jin's inquiry had his head snapping up.

Kid? What was with these thugs demeaning him and calling him a kid? He was barely younger than this Akira he had addressed so respectfully a moment ago. He scowled reflexively and let his displeasure be known.

"I'm not some damn kid!" he protested hotly, "The name's Mochid-"

"-Just a brat I'm mentoring."

He glared when Akira swiftly cut across him, only to receive a sharp look of warning back. He scowled for a second longer before grudgingly backing down with a few discontented mutters.

"Really? You're mentoring someone?" Jin seemed to brighten slightly at the news. "I better let you properly show the kid around then."

"Yeah." she agreed, already starting to firmly lead Kensuke away.

"By the way, Natsumi-san's already by the grave." and at the word the man's face fell again, "She'll probably want to see you."

"Alright, thanks Jin-san."

The moment they were out of earshot, Akira pulled him aside to appraise him incredulously.

"Are you stupid or something?" she demanded.

"What-?!" his hackles quickly rose to the insult, but she quickly shot him down before he could protest.

"Were you really going to reveal your name to a bunch of Yakuza? Do you _want_ to get stalked and killed?"

And under the disbelieving look he was given, he was disgruntled into silence.

"Whatever." he finally said, albeit rather lamely, "If there's so many things I can't do why don't you goddamn explain it all to me first? What is this place even? A Yakuza hotspot?

Akira ruffled her hair, seemingly debating whether to tell him anything. But then she relented, gesturing for him to come closer under the canopy of a tree. She sat on the stone bench, hunching over and resting her elbows on her knees. He unwillingly took a seat beside her.

"See that woman over there?" she pointed with her chin towards where an elderly lady dressed in the red and white of traditional priestess clothing was making her way fearlessly through the crowd of yakuza.

"Yeah."

"She's the one who runs this shrine, and she's also the grandmother of Momokyokai's third-in-command. Tachibana Reiko."

"Tachibana-?!" Kensuke spluttered upon realisation, "You mean that red-haired friend of yours is third-in-command?! "

She snorted.

"Yeah, I get you. Someone like him really shouldn't be in a position of authority, right?" she leaned back against the tree trunk, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket. "But, because his grandmother is a priestess, he's the most knowledgeable of the yakuza's rituals and traditions ."

"Yakuza have traditions?" Kensuke asked, with a disbelieving curl of his lip.

"Of course they do. They have a whole damn hierarchy. Starting from the boss all the way the top, there's the First-Lieutenant ; second-in-command and basically the boss' right-hand, Second Lieutenant; third-in command, orders around the lower ranked members-" she swept a hand towards the suited throng around them, "such as the kyodai, which Jin-san over there is, and the shatei who rank even lower than kyodai. It's kind of like a senior-junior relationship."

Kensuke eyed the milling Yakuza speculatively.

"You can tell usually tell the kyodai from the shatei from the tattoos." she further explained, pointing out a few that sported the colourful ink, "You see, getting those tattoos is like branding yourself a criminal for life. So you'll only find them on the senior and more devoted members."

"So Gorilla-face over there was a kyodai, then."

If she took notice of the derogatory moniker, she made no comment.

"Jin-san's kind of more than just a kyodai." Akira nodded politely towards the tattooed man when he looked up and met their gazes, "He was the late boss' most loyal subordinate, anything he was ordered to do, he carried out with his life. No-one was more devoted to Atsushi than him. Which is also why he's been taking his death the hardest."

Kensuke watched said man blow tearfully into a hanky.

"Yeah, I can tell." he said wryly. "In fact, a lot of people seem to be crying their eyes out over this dead boss of theirs. Was he that nice or something?"

At the brunette's bark of laughter, he bristled, thinking he was being mocked.

"Nice?!" she chortled slapping her hand against her thigh and fixing him with a mirthful look, "Atsushi was the kind of guy who would kick helpless ten-year olds when they cried and told them to buck the fuck up. Not to mention the toxic levels of second-hand smoking he subjected them to."

And at the dark expression on her face when she said it, he wondered whether she had been one of those ten-year olds.

"So nice? Hell no. But he was respected greatly, adored even. I've heard that asshole being called the greatest leader the Momokyokai has had in decades." she shook her head in manner he could almost call wistful, "But outside family and friends? He was the most hated and feared man in Namimori and its surrounding districts. Momokyokai is a _bokuto_ yakuza."

At his confused look she elaborated.

"A yakuza that deals mainly in gambling and the like. What the Momokyokai profits the most from is debt. And he, he was the king of them. I can guarantee you that everyone in this town was indebted to him at some point." she twiddled her thumbs absently, "And debts are powerful, if in the hands of someone who knew to use them effectively. And Atsushi was a smart man. Which is why the Momokyokai is so powerful."

"If this yakuza is so influential, wouldn't the police know about them already?" he asked, frowning in thought.

"The police is in his debt as well."

Kensuke paused, mulling over that statement, before grinning in muted exhilaration.

"Fucking _cool._ "

At once, her eyes narrowed in displeasure.

"No. It's not 'fucking cool'." she said, heated gaze boring into his, "I didn't tell you all this so you could get stupid ideas to try and join them. I told you all that so that you would recognise that they're dangerous and that you shouldn't get messed up with them, hey-!" she grabbed him by the shoulder when he rolled his eyes dismissively, " _Listen!_ This is a criminal organisation, understand? They do some bad shit alright, kids like you should not get involved with them."

He shifted uncomfortably under the intensity of her stare, shrugging her hand off.

"Yeah, yeah." he muttered, "You sound like my fucking brother."

She pushed herself to her feet at the call of her name from across the courtyard.

"Because your brother's right." she shoved him gently to get him going, "You've got a good head on your shoulders Mochida, even if that mug of yours ruins it a bit. Don't waste yourself on these things."

To that, he had no reply. Instead, he followed her mutedly towards the pixie-haired woman waving at them from around the corner of the shrine walls.

* * *

Mochida was silent through the whole ceremony.

Which surprised her really, since she'd long associated non-stop whinging and barbed comments with the dark-haired teen. But she supposed the teen had enough manners to show respect before a dead man's grave. Or perhaps he was thinking over her words to him from before. Then again he was a rather stubborn teen, so the chances of it were slim.

He wasn't the only one unusually subdued. Natsumi, although she had greeted her with her usual cheer, retained none of it once they arrived before his grave. Falling instead into a pensive silence with bowed head.

Akira couldn't blame her, she too was part of the family that adored their late leader. Perhaps it was herself that was too unswayed. She brushed her shoulder against the amber-haired woman's in a pathetic attempt to comfort.

A shock of red at her peripherals alerted her to Seiji's presence, and she found no trace of his usual grin on the planes of his face.

A flash of white to her left, and curiously a splash of red had her eyes travelling to Koutarou's figure leaning against the trunk of a tree with arms folded. The splash of red she realised, was a familiar, traditional ogre mask hanging from his hip, which only raised more questions.

She turned her attention back to Seiji's grandmother who was hovering before the grave. The grave was lain under the arching branches of his favourite plum blossom tree, and the offerings his favourites also, a bottle of sake, and a smouldering cigarette.

The ceremony came to an end with the heady scent of incense still lingering in her nose.

She allowed herself five seconds to take in that grey slab of engraved stone, before resolutely turning away from it.

"Hey." it was Seiji, with a ghost of a grin slowly reaffirming itself upon his face. The red-head was looking around, "Where's the scary kid?"

"Kyouya's not coming."

"I see." he said, before shrugging casually, "I kinda expected it, the kid was always a free-spirit."

"Yeah." Akira agreed, before grabbing his elbow to get his attention once more. "Hey Seiji, do me a favour." she motioned towards where Mochida was brooding in a secluded corner. "Get him back home, make sure he gets back safe. He already got jumped on the way here, and frankly this really did not concern him."

Seiji stared down at her, about to crack a joke before deciding against it at her firm stare. He looked towards the dark-haired middle-schooler and nodded.

"Alright." he relented, "I'll escort him."

And he strode off towards the teen, clapping him on the back with a broad grin and pointing in the direction out of the shrine. They left a moment after, with Mochida shooting a brief look over his shoulder at her.

She merely wiggled her fingers emotionlessly at him. The resulting scowl was brilliant.

Seeing as Natsumi had gone off somewhere with Seiji's grandmother, her gaze drifted to the sole figure of Koutarou again. He hadn't talked to a single person upon his arrival several minutes late into the ceremony. And against her better judgement, she decided to approach him.

What caught her attention immediately, more than the unusual sight of seeing him in something other than his signature white chouran*, was the bandages peeking out from under the top buttons of his dress shirt.

Natsumi had mentioned that he had gotten himself messed up waltzing into another gang's territory by himself. But there were fresh bruises and scuffs on his hands.

"Hey." she said, and at the lack of a reply, she opted to press on. "You're looking a bit roughed up."

He remained silent. She teetered awkwardly.

"That mask the reason why you were late today?" she tipped her heads towards the object in question hanging from his waist.

To her knowledge, he never wore it unless he was out on Yakuza related business. Which meant he must have been out doing something risky before the ceremony.

"It's kind of weird seeing you with it, it's been quite a while since you wore it. What's the occasion-"

"- _someone_ has to clean up the mess."

The brusque, clenched-teeth reply had her brows shooting to her hairline. She appraised the white-haired man in wide-eyed surprise. It seemed he wasn't in the mood for talk, if the lack of his usual laid-back drawl was anything to go by. So she ducked her head in acceptance and let the matter go.

But it was him who spoke again.

"I'm surprised you even showed up."

She frowned, catching the spite laced in the comment.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The violent look he threw towards her had her blanking.

This wasn't the usual Koutarou she had come to know. The turbulent and volatile demeanour he was barely suppressing, his cagey posture, and the down-turned corners of his mouth all pointed to the persona he only donned when he was behind the mask as Momokyokai's Rampaging Red Ogre.

Yet the mask was clearly hanging at his hip.

"I think you know." he spat.

And Akira knew she would have to tread carefully. She leaned against the tree trunk, taking care that even her posture was as passive as possible. She swabbed at her nose with her thumb.

"I might be unwilling to take responsibility and all that," she started, "but I'm not ungrateful. I'd never forget about someone I owe."

Strangely her response seemed to only annoy him further.

 _"Really?"_ he scoffed, expression dark.

At this she scowled. She had been trying to keep the conversation civil, but his tone was entirely antagonising.

"What's your problem, man?"

"What's _my_ problem-?" he broke off, before glaring down at her, "What yours?"

"What-"

"You say you're not ungrateful, yet lately all you've been doing is act like an ungrateful little brat." he loomed over her, aura oppressive, "You pretend you don't know us on the streets, you abandon your surrogate family in times of need, _spit_ on the goodwill of a man you once called your father-figure."

Akira unwilling followed the forceful sweep of his arm to Atsushi's grave.

Then her own righteous anger spilled forth. Her jaw clenched and she met his glower with her own ire-filled one.

" _Do not_ try to push this on me." she snarled lowly, pressing him back with the flat of her raised forearm, her finger pointed between his eyes as warning of her rising temper. "You are perfectly capable of running this organisation without the help of a fucking highschool student."

His eyes flashed. He knocked her hand away and grabbed her by the collar.

"This is _not_ about you becoming our leader." the anger was rolling off him in waves now, there were no more pretences, "It never was! This is about you showing even the slightest bit of gratitude for everything he's done for you- that _we've_ done for you-!"

She forcefully ripped his grip from her, temper flaring abruptly.

"-I came here today-!" she broke off, running a hand through her hair in frustration, "Regardless of what it would mean for my fucking education-!"

"-out of _obligation_ -"

" _Then what-_ what the _hell_ do you want me to do then?!"

" _To fucking care about this family!_ " he roared, "Like it did about you!"

And Akira reeled back, as if struck.

"To at least have the _decency_ to repay the damn kindness its shown you and help us- now of all times!" he swore, seemingly overwhelmed by his own rage, "We're leaderless, we've been leaderless for a year now, and because of it we're at our most vulnerable right now! Yet in our time of need, you act like a fucking stranger to us!"

"I can't get involved with the yakuza any further." she said lowly, shaking her head to and fro, "It was a selfish decision to do so in the first place but I know that now. I have my own family to think of, and every time I'm seen hanging around the Momokyokai I'm slowly dragging them into this mess."

He laughed, a harsh, disbelieving sound.

"Your family?" he swiped a hand down his jaw, narrowing his eyes at her, "You would choose the family who you believed abandoned you over the one who took you in?"

She froze.

"Yeah. I heard you crying about it to Boss that day."

"Don't-"

He pitched his voice in a derisive imitation of hers.

"My father's left me."

" _I said_ _don't!_ "

He followed her when she started to back away.

"My mother's always crying at night."

He shoved her, and her fists balled.

" _My brother won't talk to me anymore._ I guess you're all just self-absorbed pricks who can't give a shit about the people around them-"

"FUCK YOU!"

Then they were at eachother's throats, without even knowing who had thrown the first blow.

The blood roaring in their ears deafened them to the shouts of the suited men around them, as they earnestly attempted to beat eachother's teeth in. They had only one thought on their mind. Make the other _hurt._

But before they could deal the other anything more than a bloody nose and a split lip, they were bodily wrenched away from eachother by the scruffs of their necks.

 _"ENOUGH!"_

Someone stepped between them, preventing them from getting within striking distance of eachother. Still Akira reached for him with her fists, blinded by her fury, until a slap across her head had her twisting to face the new assailant. She stopped.

It was Jin.

The hulking, tattooed man was staring them both down with a look of such anger and disappointment, theirs seemed pitifully pathetic in comparison.

"You both ought to feel ashamed of yourselves!" he rumbled, "Boss trusted and loved every one of us equally. And on a day like this, when we should be showing him that we're united, we're fighting amongst ourselves-"

The man inhaled shakily, covering his face with his palm.

"On a day like this..."

She let her fists drop to her sides wordlessly, and across from her, Koutarou did the same.

* * *

Tsuna perked up from his spot against the kitchen counter at the sound of the front door opening and shutting. He waited curiously, until a familiar face passed through the dining room doorway.

"Akira-nee." he greeted in pleasant surprise. "You're back!"

Then he caught sight of the numerous plasters and the signs of swelling on her face.

"HIEE! W-What happened?!" he exclaimed, making move to stumble over to her in worry.

She waved him off.

"I'm fine." she said, "Ran into a pole that's all."

"...right." he was completely dubious of course, but he wasn't a stranger to the feeling of coming home with suspicious injuries, so he let the matter drop as she wished. "Mum's out getting the groceries for dinner if you were wondering."

"Right." she nodded absently, before turning her attention to him. "So what were you doing?"

"Oh, um- I was just getting a drink of water." he lifted the glass in his hand, almost sloshing the contents onto the floor. "Homework was making my head hurt. You know how I am with maths, or any subject really."

"Which bit?"

"A-all of it..." he admitted, face flushing.

"Need help?"

He blinked in surprise, having expected her to tease him about it even a little.

"I-I guess? Yeah! Thanks!"

He watched her rub gingerly at her jaw from his seat across the low table in his room, where he could already see the beginning of bruising starting to appear. He worried his lip in concern. When she caught him looking, he quickly ducked his head and turned to his homework again.

"What's up? Stuck again?"

"No." he said quickly, quickly scribbling onto the paper to prove it.

Contrary to his expectation of his sister laughing at him upon seeing the level of the questions he was struggling with, she had merely took it in stride, patiently re-explaining the theory even when he made the same mistakes over and over again.

She was definitely in a weird mood today, and it was even more pronounced than in it had been at breakfast. He inwardly pondered the reason for how unusually subdued she was being. Perhaps she had something on her mind?

He shook his head, he had to focus on his work. So he furrowed his brows as he painstakingly worked away at the next question, tongue poking out in concentration.

"Hey! I think I'm the hang of this!" he exclaimed, pleased at his progress. He pushed the paper over to Akira for her to check.

"Yeah, you are." she mused, "You're getting them all right so far. Good job." she handed it back to him. "Keep at it."

And he did so with significantly more enthusiasm than before.

"Hey Tsuna?"

"Yeah?"

"Keep at it alright? This school stuff I mean."

He blinked.

"Okay...?"

"You're not dumb, you just need to put in more effort than others. So don't give up on your chance at education, alright?" she said, fixing him with a solemn look. "If you're finding it hard, just ask me for help and I'll help you."

He watched curiously as she buried her face into the cradle of her arms on the table-top.

"I'll help you, so please."

And even if her face was hidden and her words muffled by the crook of her arm, he caught the quaver in her voice, the raw emotion spilling over.

"Please don't turn out like your sister."

 **A/N *CHOURAN: A long version of the gakuran, almost like a coat rather than a jacket.**

 **I don't know if anyone will be interested but I'm working on a tumblr page that will provide background information on this fic, character profiles, organisation structure, context etc. It's still in progress but I'll post a link once its done.**

 **And as always, thank you very, very much for reading.**


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